Nowhere to Run
by Tashasaurous
Summary: Set after Mega Evolution Special III-Despite wanting to see Alain, yet starting to understand why he wanted to protect her, terrible nightmares, memories of the Houen Region incident, and fears of Lysandre causes Mairin to run away to Kanto, but it seems danger attempts to swallow her up.
1. Chapter one: Understanding

_**Nowhere to Run.**_

 **Author's note: Yes, this is yet another one that I'm starting, but this came just randomly in my head. Maybe this will be short, I don't know, but I wasn't satisfied with how Mega Evolution Special IV ended, but the idea did seem appealing.**

 **I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter one: Understanding.

Ten year old Mairin lied in the bed in the Pokemon Centre in Lumoise City, having just returned to the Kalos Region with her partner, Chespie the Chespin, thanks for the Houen Region Champion, Steven Stone. While Steven was very nice, he did point out a few things that made Mairin think about. She would've gone after Alain who had returned here with Lysandre to the labs somewhere, but Steven's words continously echoed in her mind.

 _"He what!?" Mairin cried out, shocked as she found Steven the next morning after the epic deadly battle that nearly destroyed the world. She couldn't find Alain anywhere._

 _"He told me that he left you because if you were with him, it'd put you in danger." Steven told the young girl. "He went back to Kalos."_

 _The young girl couldn't believe it. Alain left, because he was worried about her safety? Even after what she and Chespie had been through to help him, considering how he put himself in danger._

 _"Then I'll go back too!" Mairin decided, "I have to find Alain. I'm worried about him."_

 _"Hold on, Mairin." Steven told her, "I can take you take to Kalos if you like, but, Alain also said that you shouldn't follow him."_

 _Mairin blinked, "Why not?"_

 _The young man sighed, then placed a hand gently on the young girl's shoulder, saying, "Because I think I understand why he did what he did. He wanted to protect you, and he felt that if you stay with him, you'll only be put into danger. He thinks that he could put you into harm and he doesn't want that."_

 _Alain thought that he could end up hurting Mairin, and he didn't want that to happen? Mairin started to gaze down, trying hard to think about it, despite her desires to see him again. She cared so much about him, and had grown so much to like him ever since she first met him._

 _"I know that if anything happened to you, I don't think Alain would forgive himself." Steven continued, "He cares about you, Mairin."_

 _Now that she thought of it, Mairin did remember Alain telling her how Professor Sycamore ment so much to him, even that tall man, Lysandre. Heck, Mairin knows full well how much Charizard meant so much to Alain, just as how much Chespie meant so much to Mairin. Now Mairin had become part of Alain's life as much as her had become part of her life. Still, she remembered when Rayquaza attacked, and how scared she was._

 _During it's Draco Meteor attack, Mairin tried to run away, but was caught in the blast, and Alain had risked his life to save her and got injured. He then went straight to battle Groudon and Kyogre despite his injuries. Mairin didn't want to go, and she didn't want Alain to go either, but he did anyway. She then had felt that it was her fault that he got hurt, so she had decided then, that she had to be brave to make sure that those she cared so much about weren't hurt. She and Chespie had snuck onboard, and had witnessed the entire calamity, which had terrified her._

 _Then, when Alain was knocked out when he went to save Charizard, Mairin never felt so scared. Without thinking, she rushed down with Chespie to save him, and had been so worried. She was relieved that he was still alive. After Rayquaza defeated the two other Pokemon, Mairin admitted that she had been scared, but she was also so worried about Alain who thanked her. The two then shared a hug, as Mairin had been on the urge to cry. It was then that she had a close bond with him._

 _But maybe...maybe Mairin shouldn't be with him. He got hurt because of her. She was deeply worried, but...maybe it was better this way._

 _"You understand?" Steven asked gently._

 _Mairin could only nod, not saying anything. Chespie gazed up at his trainer with worry, for she looked so sad._

Now, several hours later, Mairin had opted to stay in the Pokemon Centre to think things through, after saying her thanks and goodbyes to Steven who left to speak to Lysandre and also tell Alain the young girl's message to him. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that maybe she was a weakness. Tears formed in eyes, and no matter how hard she tried to keep herself from crying, as she held Chespie in her arms, it was a losing battle.

"I want to see Alain, but I don't want him to get hurt because of me." Mairin whispered. Finally, she was unable to hold in much longer, and squeezed her beloved Pokemon into a tightining hug, and sobbed, "Chespie, what'm I gonna do?"

"Chespin...Ches." Chespie muttered, now growing more and more worried for his trainer and human friend. But he didn't know what to do to cheer her up. So, he leaned in to try to embrace and comfort the crying girl as best as the small Pokemon could.

* * *

Meanwhile, in one of the many sleeping courters in the Lysandre Labs, Alain was staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the progress and Charizard both made in battling ten Mega Evolution trainers in a row and having become stronger, even defeating one of the Elite Four, Malva. He thought about what Steven told him about Mairin, how the young girl had wanted to come and see him, but she must've understood why he left.

Still, to hear that made him feel bad. Alain shut his eyes, and tried to tell himself not to think about that. He had to focus on getting stronger...stronger to protect those very dear to him.

Mairin was no exception.

' _Mairin. I'm really sorry. I only want to keep you safe._ ' Alain thought to himself. Despite that Mairin was only ten years old, she had risked her life to save him when the battle against Groudon and Kyogre nearly killed him and Charizard. Yes, she had been terrified, but her concern for him won over her fear, and that's what saved his life, along with Chespie's and Metagross's help. He supposed she did that as her dept to repay him or say that she was sorry, for he had saved her life from Rayquaza's attacks.

Alain then realised that the two them had grown so close to each other, and he actually missed her smile, her optisim, her kindness, her excitement, even though she was clumsy, but she wasn't stupid. Just young and still needs a lot to learn.

In a dark room within the labs, Lysandre was up late, and thought deeply on the progress Alain was making. Still, he couldn't help but notice young fifteen year old man wouldn't stop thinking about the little girl with the Chespin. That young girl, while kind and was indeed just an overly curious child, had made an impact with Alain's life, which could be problematic.

The screen then lit up, revealing a man in an ugly orange suit with his skin very milk white and ugly orange goggles, the room he is in revealing to be another secret lab.

"Sir," The man began, "The experiment is going according to plan."

"Excellent, Dr. Xerosic." Lysandre muttered, before questioning, "And the cells?"

"Still working on it, sir." Xerosic replied.

The tall man 'hmm'ed, and then told the scientest, "I'll be expecting results."

Within that lab, a single strange little green blog of a Pokemon, with a single eye and a pink dot on it's back, began to glow slightly, as it seemed rather scared to be trapped within this room. Still, it could sense something, and closed it's eye, and seemed to have fallen asleep.

* * *

It was very late in the night, or very early in the morning, for the Pokemon Centre was closed for the night. Mairin and Chespie were both fast asleep. But then, Mairin began to moan, and fidget in her sleep, as a nightmare began to take hold, or rather, several nightmares.

 _It first started on Mairin begining to restart her journey through out Kalos with Chespie, and had camped out for the night in the forest. But then she awoke in the middle of the night, to strange sounds. It was dark, and the clouds had covered up the full moon, blocking it's light. Chespie heard it as well._

 _"W-What was that?" Mairin asked, fear threatening to grip at her heart._

 _"Chespin, Ches?" Chespie muttered, clinging slightly at Mairin's leg._

 _Too terrified, Mairin and her Pokemon quickly packed up as she told her partner, "C'mon, Chespie. We'd better get going."_

 _But as soon as they finished, they heard rustling from the trees and bushes, and Mairin froze. Within the darkness of the trees, red glowing pairs of eyes blinked open, scarying her and Chespie out of their minds. Gasping in horror, Mairin quickly scooped Chespie in her arms, and turned to run, but froze, as giant pairs of yellow eyes were on the other part of the forest, gazing and focusing only on both of them._

 _Terrified, Mairin, with her Pokemon in her arms, then ran down the path where they were going anyway. She continued to run as fast as she could, until she reached another part of the woods and dashed herself and the Chespin into the bushes and leaned against a tree, sliding down to sit, panting, as she and Chespie hugged each other, too scared to do anything else._

 _Just then, the two of them heard sounds of car tyres being driven on the path they came from, and headlights shining, through to the bushes. Mairin's eyes widened as she realised that someone was coming. Too scared to even know what was going on, she continued to hold Chespie in her arms and quickly hid behind the tree, and gently shushed her Pokemon to be quiet._

 _They both heard the car stopping, though the lights were now shined right right the tree, and Mairin tried her best to keep silent, though she shivered. She was scared._

 _Car doors opened and footsteps could be heard._

 _"Any sign of anyone who is a threat to our plans?" a man's voice questioned._

 _Mairin remained silent, and even Chespie kept silent. What plans? Who were these people? What kind of threat do they mean? Whatever it was, she suddenly had a feeling that it wasn't good news._

 _"Our scans say that someone who could have overheard us is a little girl with a Chespin, and she's very close." A woman's voice said._

 _The young trainer's eyes widened and she stopped herself in time from gasping in horror. They were talking about her and Chespie! Mairin didn't understand. She knew she couldn't move, or else they'll be captured by these strange and horrible people. They were trapped. She felt herself shaking, completely scared._

 _"She may be a smart little girl if she overheard us. Or why else would she run away?" the man's voice thought._

 _"Kids tend to run away." The female voice said, "Only she has no where else to go. Even if she runs very far, we will find her."_

 _This only made Mairin's fear increase, and even Chespie's fear was increasing. The two hugged each other tightly, begging not to make a sound._

 _What they heard next made them terrified beyond belief. "When you do find her, either capture her, or else if she continues to resist...kill her."_

 _Mairin's eyes widened, and she could hear her heart thumping, which seems to grow louder and louder like in a horror movie. Unable to handle it, she crept away further into the forest as silently as she could, looking back slightly as flash-lights scanned around the area. Avoiding collision with more bushes while hoping to stay out of sight, once she found a path again, and, hopefully away from the horrible people, with Chespie still in her arms, Mairin made a run for it._

 _Then suddenly, as they made it out into the clearing, Mairin and Chespie were shocked to discover they were right at the lower edge of a cliff of rocks, with the ocean thrusting and smashing onto the shore. In the ocean far ahead, were two familiar Pokemon in Primal forms, along with the Mega form of a familiar green dragon Pokemon who roared loudly._

 _On top of everything else, when Mairin looked back behind her, she gasped as the trees had turned into the wall from the high-cliff._

 _"What's going on?" Mairin cried out._

 _"Chespin!" Chespie cried out, alarming the girl. When Mairin looked to see what had her Pokemon point at to the left, she gasped as a few feet away, were the unconscious, heavily bleeding forms of Steven, even Metagross, Charizard who's Mega Stone was damaged with cracks, and...Alain, who's mega Keystone was destroyed._

 _"No!" Mairin gasped. She made to reach them, but then the ground cracked, forcing her and Chespie to back away to avoid in getting caught. To their horror, the others were pulled into the newly created chasem of rock and sea water, and pulled into the ocean, away from Mairin and Chespie._

 _When they looked again, Mairin gasped, realisation dawning to her. On the urge of crying as she was too late, she shook her head, before screaming out in devastation, "Nooooo!"_

 _To make things worse, suddenly, a mechanical hand swooped down and snatched Chespie from Mairin's arms and pulled the small Pokemon away from her despite her attempts to reach for him. "Chespie!" she screamed._

 _Chespie had been captured by a man in an ugly suit with orange goggles who was grinning down at her evilly, with two women and some men in orange suits. Chespie was then trapped inside a glass cube, as the small Pokemon cried out desparetely towards his trainer._

 _"So you know about our plans, don't you, little girl?" The first man laughed, and Mairin realised he was the owner of the male voice she heard earlier._

 _"No! I don't know what's going on!" Mairin pleaded, "Please, let my Chespie go!"_

 _The man laughed evilly, "There's no use in lying. We know you know of our plans, and because of this, it's your fault that your beloved friends are dead. Now because of you, YOU have re-started the calamity in the Houen Region, and caused the deaths of your friends."_

 _"No!" Mairin shook her head, tears falling, "It can't be true!"_

 _But then another quake caused her to lose her balance and Mairin fell forward. When she looked up, the strange people and her precious Chespie suddenly disappeared, as her Pokemon cried out, pleading. "Chespie! Chespie, no!" Mairin screamed out._

 _Three large shadows then loomed over her. When Mairin looked up, she screamed in terror as Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza loomed over her. Terrified, she crawled backwards away from them until her back touched the rocky wall. She was cornered and trapped, and terrified. Whimpering and quivering in fear, Mairin didn't know what do to. Was it really her fault that she caused the deaths of Alain, Charizard, Steven, Metagross and the kidnapping of Chespie?_

 _Groudon then reached out it's massive claws forward, Kyogre opened it's jaws wide, revealing it's throat, and Rayquaza did the same. Realising that, strangely, these Pokemon were attempting to eat her, like they would've tried to eat the giant Mega Stone, Mairin screamed and did her best to shield herself with her arms, screaming in horror, as she didn't want to be eaten by either of these Pokemon._

 _It seems that Groudon got to her first, as Mairin could feel the pressure of being scooped up by it's claws, and felt like she was being squashed by through jolly people. She screamed and squirmed as she tried to free herself..._

"NO! Let me go!" Mairin screamed as she wiggled and squirmed, crying out as tears began to fall.

"Mairin, please! Wake up!" A gentle voice cried out.

Hearing the voice and feeling that it was familiar, Mairin gasped as she opened her eyes, and then jolted up right, panting, confusion and fear taking hold at first, then she gazed up and saw a very worried Nurse Joy having had her hand on Mairin's shoulder, and Chespie standing on the bed, also very worried, and she realised that she was awake, back in the Pokemon Centre, in the real world.

Realising that she had just had a nightmare, Mairin tried her best to calm down, but, that nightmare...it was so horrible. Unable to hold it in, she brought her knees to her chest, hugged them, and buried her face in her arms, as she began to cry. The fear and guilt rising inside her very own body, threatening to consume her and swallow her up.

Nurse Joy and Chespie both grew even more worried, before the former gently sat on the edge of the bed, and rubbed her hand onto the crying girl's back to comfort her. Eventually, after ten minutes, Mairin's sobs rendered to sniffles. She lifted her tear-covered face, her eyes having turned red from crying, before she gazed at Chespie who jumped up and she caught him in her arms. The two then embraced, their bond stronger than ever.

"Are you alright?" Nurse Joy asked gently.

Mairin sniffled, "Y-yeah. I had a terrible dream, but...I-I'm okay." as she tried to calm down. But deep down, the memory of the nightmare couldn't go away. Even worse, she was afraid...afraid that it might come true. "U-Um, Nurse Joy...could you, give us a moment, please?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

"Yes, of course." Nurse Joy nodded, "If you need anything, let me know." before standing and leaving the room, leaving Mairin and Chespie alone again.

Chespin gazed at his trainer, the worry increasing. Whatever kind of dream Mairin had, it must've been so terrifying that now she was shivering. The small Pokemon decided the best thing to do was lean into the embrace again.

 _"She may be a smart little girl if she overheard us. Or why else would she run away?"_

 _"Only she has no where else to go. Even if she runs very far, we will find her."_

 _"When you do find her, either capture her, or else if she continues to resist...kill her."_

 _"So you know about our plans, don't you, little girl?"_

 _"There's no use in lying. We know you know of our plans, and because of this, it's your fault that your beloved friends are dead. Now because of you, YOU have re-started the calamity in the Houen Region, and caused the deaths of your friends."_

The voices of those people echoed in her mind, and Mairin couldn't stop thinking about the dangers that happened. What if they were right? What if she ends up sending those she loved to their early graves if she was with them? Even worse, as paranior took it's hold, there could be bad people out there doing something, and even worse, might think that she could be a threat, and that would only put Alain in danger.

Even more worse, Kalos might be in trouble if she stayed. Mairin then remembered, back in the Houen Region. Those people in the white coats worked for Lysandre, and because they overworked their computers with the large Mega Stone, it caused Rayquaza to react, and even, for what reason, she still didn't understand, that Groudon and Kyogre attacked as well. Alain almost died twice.

Maybe Lysandre might have something to do with it, despite him being a very nice man. Still...maybe Mairin was better off leaving. But she couldn't leave Chespie behind. She tried to think of where she could go, to make a fresh start. That's when she remembered. There were other regions in the world. Ash Ketchum, the boy with the Pikachu who had saved the Pokemon who had went crazy, came from the land of Kanto.

Kanto. That might be her only option. It was a hard decision, but then, Mairin didn't want to put her family and friends in danger, and she didn't want to leave her Pokemon behind in case something happened, and she might never have the chance to say goodbye to Alain, but it was the only way.

"Chespie." She began, and with more tears in her eyes as her Pokemon gazed up at her, Mairin then said, with her heart aching, "We're going to run away. To Kanto."

To be Continued...


	2. Chapter two: Running away

**Author's note: Welcome back, fellow readers. Here's the second chapter.**

 **Hey, did you guys hear about the new Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon games that are coming out this year? The development trailer was broadcasted on line last week.**

 **I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo/Pokemon Company.**

* * *

Chapter two: Running away.

"Leaving so soon?" Lysandre questioned, as he noticed that Alain sorting things out for another journey.

The younger man paused, then continued what he was doing while answering, "I guess I just don't sit still when it comes to Mega Evolution. There are other Mega Evolution Trainers out there, and at the same time...I want to make sure nothing bad happens like back in the Houen Region." that, and the fact that, Malva's words that the reason he wanted to become stronger was to protect those very dear to him, and that friendship, both in his Charizard and in Mairin, made his heart stronger, and he agreed to it. Not to mention that he wanted to make up for leaving Mairin behind like he did. But he didn't mention this to Lysandre.

Especially how, despite having mistakened Mairin as Alain's sidekick, Alain actually and rather embarrassingly got the expression that Lysandre actually thought Mairin was his little girlfriend. Good thing Mairin denied it and Alain had felt mentally relieved and thankful for that, even if he was exasperated that she forgot that Pokemon were the ones that Mega Evolved, not humans. Besides, they were five years apart.

Unless they were actually crazy like some people in the world about the five or ten year gap, there was no way in a million years that Alain and Mairin were _that_ close. Maybe more of a sibling bond.

Lysandre in the meantime, sensed more than could hear or see that there was more to Alain's departure than just what the younger man said, but he didn't press the issue. Plus, at least Alain would look for Pokemon with Mega Evolution potiental. "Then I wish you a safe journey, Alain." he eventually replied.

Alain nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mairin had gathered everything she knew she needed, and hoped she had enough money to leave Kalos and catch the plane to the Kanto Region. To make sure that Chespie would be safe until they reached Kanto, Mairin, for the first time since gaining her partner, recalled him back into his Pokeball until the time was right.

Deep down, though, she really didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. But her dreams-her nightmares, they terrified her. What if they would actually come true if she stayed? Those people...they seemed so real, and they could be sighted either here or back in the Houen Region and then arrive here, and could potientally think she knows something, and could put her friends and family in danger.

Not to mention that, what if, considering how Rayquaza had defeated Groudon and Kyogre, all three Pokemon would come for her, arrive in Kalos in search for the giant Mega Stone? Now that, she had to admit, sounded silly and paranoia, but those Pokemon could be angry. Then there's Lysandre. Mairin didn't think she could trust him anymore. But if she said anything to Alain, he could be put into danger.

She was helpless, and right now, she could feel her hands shaking, her heart quickening, the verge on a breakdown. Overwhelmed, Mairin collasped to her knees, placing her arms on the edge of the bed in the Pokemon Centre, buried her face within her arms, and cried.

But then, as she lifted her head from her arms slightly, Mairin suddenly felt that she wasn't alone. Opening her eyes, they widened as a nine-foot tall shadow loomed from behind her, and she quickly felt that it wasn't friendly.

Gasping in fright, she quickly turned around, but found no one. The young trainer looked around, half wondering if she was seeing things. But that didn't ease her fear. Fearing that she may have been found already, Mairin couldn't handle her fear and she quickly stood up, rested her back-pack onto her back, then raced out the door, and closing it. Checking behind her, and glad that there was no nine-foot whatever it was behind her, she then as calmly as she could walked down the halls.

She mentally sighed in relief as she made it to the familar lobby, and after waving Nurse Joy a goodbye, Mairin stepped out through the automatic doors, and took a deep breath, still slightly shaking. This journey will not be easy. Her parents will no doubt worry for her safety and wonder where she could be. Alain might be fine, but he would no doubt miss her. But she had to do this.

Nodding, Mairin walked, through out Limoise City, making her way to the familiar airport she entered with Alain to the Houen Region. As she walked, she felt her chest hurt and her heart swelling up in sorrow. She passed many people, some with Pokemon, which they were all happy, some hanging out with friends.

She looked away in sadness, though she wished for that kind of happiness, but Mairin knew, there was no way she could. Possibly not in Kalos ever again. But as she passed a gap between two buildings, all of the sudden, a hand grabbed hold of her left arm, and just before she could gasp, Mairin was pulled into the gap.

The terrified girl was about to scream for help, when another hand covered her mouth, while the first arm wrapped around her arms and pinned her to someone's chest. She squirmed and wiggled, her cries muffled, but she couldn't escape, as whoever had snatched her was intended on keeping her captive. Fear gripped her heart, as Mairin thought she was already too late.

' _Someone help me!_ ' Mairin's thoughts had screamed.

The person who had taken her hostage then lowered closer to her face, and whispered in a very low, somewhat dark, and terrifying voice, lips barely touching her ear, "If you run away, small one, there will be others coming for you. There is nowhere to run."

Mairin froze, fear increasing.

The man grinned, and said, "Come with me, and I can provide you the best taste of freedom of your life."

' _No! No, please!_ ' Mairin began to panick, and with the almost every effort she could manage, she managed to free one of her arms and as strongly as she could, elbowed the kidnapper somewhere she hope could at least cause him to let go. Thankfully, it worked, and the man grunted in pain as his stomach was hit hard, causing him to let go of Mairin who instantly rushed out and then ran out of the gap before running as fast as she could.

The tall man, nine foot tall, grunted in sheer annoyance on how such a small child managed to get away from him like that. But then, seeing how some people who saw her running away would provide him only prison, he calmly stood up, and then walked further into the gap, vanishing in the shadows.

Mairin continued to run, until she realised she was getting exhausted and eventually stopped, leaning against the arm rest of the bench, and panted at the close call, fear and guilt. She couldn't believe it. Her nightmares were coming true. But she never got a good look on who the man that tried to kidnap her, and...possibly kill her, was, and she didn't want to. She had thought of telling the police, but she quickly realised that it could only provide both no one believing her and that more people could be threatened.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, Mairin lets out a terrified scream and whipped around, fearing that the man had followed her. But then she saw that it wasn't. Instead, it was familiar man in a lab coat, one who gave her Chespie.

"Mairin? What's wrong?" Professor Sycamore asked, concerned over the young trainer's over reaction.

At first, she sighed in relief, but then, Mairin remembered how Alain used to be Sycamore's assistant, and then her worries grew even further. The proffessor could be in danger as well, if she said anything to him. Now she knew, she had to leave.

"I...I'm sorry, Proffessor Sycamore, but I gotta go!" Mairin spoke out too quickly, and before she could let him say anything, she turned and ran to her destination in hopes that he wouldn't follow.

"Mairin? Mairin, wait!" Sycamore cried out, but he was ignored, as the young trainer continued to run away. He was about to follow her, but he didn't. He was too confused on why Mairin was apologetic and scared. "What in the world gotten into her?"

* * *

Mairin could've stopped to let her thoughts go through, but she didn't. Instead, she just went straight to the airport, and was thankful that Nurse Joy had booked her ticket for her to Kanto. She kept looking behind her, making sure that the tall man wasn't following her, before it was finally her turn at the bookings desk.

Once that was done, Mairin followed the people taking the plane to the Kanto region. She did stop and looked back at the entrance, a part of her wanting to change her mind and stay, to find Alain. But everyone she cared for was in danger if she did, especially if the man knew something she didn't understand, and thought she knew something.

Turning away again, Mairin tearfully whispered, "I'm sorry, Alain." and then headed towards that platform to board the plane.

Boarding the plane and taking a seat next to one of the windows, Mairin gazed out, staring at the region of love, the region of her origins, the region that was her home. She didn't know how long she will be away, or, as possibly the most likely thing, if she ever returned at all.

The plane was then put into motion, Mairin knew, it was too late to change her mind now. The next thing she knew, the plane was taking off in the air, leaving Kalos behind. She gazed out one last time, as more tears fell.

' _Bye mom...bye dad...bye Proffessor Sycamore..._ ' Mairin thought, and she silently cried as she thought of the last person she was leaving behind, ' _Bye, Alain._ '

She was now on her way to Kanto, and no one would know where she had gone, or if she would return again.

One thing Mairin did know, though. Kanto was the only place she could go without putting those she loved in danger.

* * *

Alain had arrived at the entrance of Limoise City, where he thought that Mairin might be. He had figured that she might've taken a bit of a break before she would do something in her career as a Pokemon Trainer. He had to tell her his feelings, and hopefully make up to her. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings.

He was just about to walk around the corner, when he heard someone mention something that made him stop in his tracks.

"Did you see how that young kid ran out of the gap like that?" A guy's voice asked.

Curious, yet having a bad gut feeling about this, Alain peaked around the corner, and saw a tourist with his girlfriend at the outside tables of a resturant.

"She did look terrified. I wonder what made her run away in such a hurry." The woman thought, as her Jigglypuff held a confused look while seated in a third chair.

A girl, running away? And why was she in a gap between two buildings? Alain was about to approach, when his eyes widened as Sycamore, who, having just passed by, also overheard the conversation, and approached the couple, asking, "Excuse me, I couldn't help overhearing, but, did you just say something about a girl running away?"

The two, who recongised him, nodded, and the man said, "Yeah, a kid about ten years old, with a green hat and matching clothes, ran off in a right hurry, maybe a little spooked."

Alain silently gasped as he hid again, shocked at these events. Mairin was here? Why did she run away? Was she in trouble? What happened?

To confirm his fears, Sycamore sighed, and muttered, "I know her. I met up with the young lady earlier, but...I cannot explain why, but she just apologuised and then ran away. I've look everywhere for her, and...after asking some other people who had seen her run, some of them say she was heading to the airport."

What? The airport? Then that means...Mairin was running away to somewhere. Alain then realised, it makes kind of sense. Mairin must've felt she was to blame that he nearly died, and something must've scared her. Anger and guilt began to rise inside his chest, fist clutching and he hit the wall behind him, silently cursing at himself.

' _This is all my fault._ ' Alain thought to himself. He never should've left Mairin in the first place. She had cared so much about him, and he recalled how she didn't want to go up against Groudon and Kyogre, and how she tried to prevent him from going up against the legendary Pokemon, because she had been worried for his safety. Not only that, he knew that she knew, that he was still recovering from Rayquaza's attack.

Now she was gone. She had taken the plane and ran away to somewhere.

His eyes shut in anger at himself, Alain now felt that he never should've left on the journey to discover on Mega Evolution, never should've met Lysandre. But then he never would've met Mairin, and she wouldn't have been caught up in this situation that costed her happiness. Alain looked up, and nodded to himself, in determination.

He had to follow her. He had to find her, and pray that she was safe. He knew where he had to go; the airport.

' _Mairin. Everything will be alright._ ' Alain thought.

* * *

It would take a day to reach Kanto, which Mairin knew. She gazed out of the window, seeing the sky and the ocean, which she had seen more than once, but stars and cresent moon tonight were beautiful, especially when their reflection on the ocean water sparkled as well. But Mairin sighed. She wished she had someone to talk to.

She closed her eyes, thinking about what she had been through, and thought...maybe if she just stayed home and never became a Pokemon trainer, she never would've met Alain. But then Mairin realised that, if that were the case, then he would've died in the Houen Region.

Mairin moaned and then folded her arms against the window, and rested her head on top of them, and felt at loss. Things were complicated, and she felt that everything was now upside down. After a long time of thinking, she dozed off.

So it came to a surprise to her when Mairin felt a slight jolt that startled her awake. Sitting up straight, and giving out a soft yawn, tiredly wiping her eyes, she blinked as she gazed at the window and found that it was morning and that the plane had arrived at it's destination. The sight of the ground and the airport told her one thing.

She was in the land of Kanto.

* * *

After being welcomed to the new region, Mairin left the Kanto Airport and stepped outside, gazing around her new surroundings. It looked like a fun place to explore, and, considering how she didn't know if she would ever return home or not, the young trainer then remembered something.

"Oh, right!" Mairin said to herself, pulling out a Pokeball and threw if in the air, calling out, "Chespie, come on out!" and in flash from the Pokeball, Chespie appeared, before he leaped into her waitings arms. Both smiled a little, "Glad for some fresh air?"

"Chespin!" Chespie nodded, with a smile.

Mairin smiled, then gazed up as she allowed her partner to climb onto her shoulder, and the two knew, this was their fresh start. In truth, Mairin was a little nervous, and she had wondered how everyone back in Kalos were, but she knew, she had to do this.

"Well, this is it." She said, "Time to head out through the Kanto Region."

The two were about to walk, when Mairin paused, realising, having come all the way here, she hasn't really made up her mind on what to do yet. When she met Alain and discovered Mega Evolution, Mairin had set her goals to learn more about it. Now, because she didn't think Kanto had anything to do with Mega Evolution, and she had just run away from Kalos, she had no idea what do to.

The young trainer sweatdropped, before laughing sheepishly, muttering, "I guess I kinda forgot what we're gonna do while we're here."

Hearing this made Chespie sigh in slight exasperation.

"Well, I guess we'll just head towards the nearest town." Mairin said, sighing herself. Then as she looked up, she saw a young man, about Alain's age, with brown spiky hair, his eyes apparently closed, walking past her, before she spoke up, "Um, excuse me, sir?"

The young man, who, unknown to Mairin, was once a travelling companion of Ash Ketchum, named Brock, paused as he looked to gaze at the young trainer and, to his surprise, a new Pokemon apparently from Kalos. "Can I help you?" Brock asked. He was donning the clothes he travelled in during his time with Ash in the Sinnoh Region.

"Where's the nearest town from here?" Mairin asked.

Seeing how this young lady was possibly a rookie trainer having just arrived from Kalos, Brock smiled, deciding to help, and answered, "Well, there's Viridian City thta's about an hour away. You can find it towards the left path."

Smiling in gratitude, Mairin nodded, "Thank you so much." before saying her goodbyes and with Chespie on her shoulder, the young trainer raced off...for a few steps before she accidently lost her footing and clumsily fell to the ground again, landing face first. People, including Brock, who all saw this, all cringed. But she got up quickly, saying that she was fine, before continuing her way, while Chespie, who nearly fell off as well, shook his head. Brock watched the young girl go, and, for some reason, he could sense that something was on the young trainer's mind.

* * *

Somewhere in a dark warehouse, the tall, nine-foot tall man, stood in the middle, as he thought of the little girl that escaped his grasp. She shouldn't have run away. He had a single goal in mind, and the child was part of that plan. In all of the years he's been on this earth, he developed an ability to read the human mind, and it seems that the child was close bonded with a young man who held a Mega Stone.

Dreams and experiences had given birth to unbearable fear within the child. The man would hunt her down if he had to.

"I will find you, little girl." The man spoke lowly. "Make no mistake on that. You can't run away forever. It will get you nowhere. There is nowhere for you to run."

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that it's short. I will try and make up for it.**


	3. Chapter three: The mysterious person

**Author's note: Sorry about the delay. Been quite busy with my studies, work and other things.**

 **However, to make it up for it, I've decided to put in a 'secret' character whom we somewhat wish to appear in the anime.**

 **I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo/Pokemon Company.**

* * *

Chapter three: The mysterious person.

Virdian City sure is a nice welcoming place, Mairin thought. She and Chespie had arrivied within an hour from the airport and explored the new unfamiliar town all around them. There were several Pokemon Mairin recongised as she knew different species of Pokemon before she became a Pokemon Trainer. Some others that were new to her, and, despite the situation, it was still exciting to see new Pokemon.

"Wow! Virdian City's a beautiful place." Mairin said, as she twirled around a few times to get a better look at her new surroundings. Though she still didn't feel as excited as she would've liked, but she tried her best not to dwell into her sadness. She had to move on, to start over for a new beginning.

But still, she could not stop thinking about Alain, and worry so much about him, or her family back home. Mairin tried hard to remain cheerful.

Apparently, Chespie sensed her sadness and nuzzled against his friend's cheek. The young trainer smiled affectionly, for her starter Pokemon meant so much to her, and she was so thankful that she had decided to bring her beloved Pokemon with her. As long as she had Chespie, she wasn't really alone.

* * *

So the two continued exploring Virdian City until the sun began to set, and when they got a bit hungry, Mairin and Chespie decided to head over to the Pokemon Center for the night before wondering what they should do and where they should go next on their journey.

After meeting the Virdian City Nurse Joy, in which Mairin was surprised that the Nurses and even Officer Jennys in Kanto looked completely different compared to the ones back in Kalos, Mairin had her Pokemon checked up with a clean bill of health, before settling down in the Pokemon Trainers' Cafeteria. But while Chespie was happily munching away at his Pokemon Food, Mairin only picked at her plate with mashed potato with gravy with her fork, her mind still on Alain and the Kalos Region.

Not only that, the more her mind was thinking back on the things she went through since she became a Pokemon Trainer, the more she realised that she was feeling the queaseness of home-sickness. Mairin already came to a conclusion that she wanted to go home, but the memories of her terrible nightmare threatened to replay itself, and it left her traumatized. What if, by wild over-imagination and paranioa, the nightmare would actually come true if she had stayed in Kalos, or even went anywhere near the Houen Region again?

Mairin was so lost in her thoughts, she payed no attention to passing trainers and Pokemon, and hardly noticed another girl, named Dawn, and her Pokemon, Piplup, passing by.

' _...Maybe I never should've..._ ' Mairin stopped the thought progress, reminding herself that, had she not been there, or even had met Alain, he would've died in the Houen Region. No, it was better this way if she stayed away from Kalos as long as she could.

She sighed. Everything was so messed up.

* * *

Alain felt like kicking himself for his own stupidity. He arrived at the airport to ask about the whereabouts of Mairin, learning that she took the plane to Kanto, further fueling the guilt that mounted over guilt. It was his fault that he pushed her away, all because he wanted to protect her. The question was, what had caused Mairin to run away all the way to Kanto?

Taking a seat at the bench in the waiting area of the airport, Alain slumped his head forward, feeling the forthcoming of a headache. How was he supposed to make it up to his friend now? On top of that, why was she scared? What spooked her?

"You look like you could use an aspirin." A woman's voice spoke out, snapping Alain out of his thoughts. The young man looked up, and saw a woman, in some kind of tribe-like cape and clothes, short black hair, and dark red eyes. Standing next to her was a Whismer who gazed up at him in curiosity. Alain then realised the word use of aspirin ment that she figured he had a headache.

But there was something strange about this woman that made him supicious. "Who're you?" Alain asked.

"Oh, sorry about my manners." The woman giggled, before introducing herself, "My name is Zinnia." before she continued in a whisper which caught Alain off-guard, "I take that you're the one who helped stop the calamity that would befelled in the Houen Region."

Alain softly gasped, before looking around to make sure no one was listening. As if reading his thoughts, Zinnia did the same, before she looked at him again and suggested, "Why don't we talk somewhere more privitely? Wouldn't want to raise superstition, now do we?"

Despite the sudden distrust in this Zinnia person, Alain knew it was better to talk in privite to avoid anyone else knowing. So he nodded and stood up before following her around the corner and into a small bunk room which they managed to hide in without authorities spotting them.

Once they were alone with the Whismer, Alain then demanded in a whisper, "How do you know about what happened in the Houen Region?"

"Everyone who saw the news that were happening in the Houen Region saw it on TV, or witnessed from afar in Rustboro City." Zinnia replied, "I was there myself. When I saw that you, like the Houen Region Champion, Steven Stone, had that Mega Stone as you arrived back, I knew that it had something to do with the giant stone."

"And again, how do you know that?" Alain questioned.

Zinnia shrugged, "It's a long story. But just so you know, I am not an enemy." her tone becoming serious now, as she crossed her arms against her chest, continuing, "My people know the legends of the Houen Region for many generations. As a matter of fact, that was not the first time that Groudon and Kyogre fought against each other by power."

"What do you mean?"

"Two Organization Teams who wished to change the fate of the world, opposing teams who disliked each other, seeked both Ancient Pokemon for their own goals via two Orbs that had nothing to do with their Primal Reversions. Those orbs, by powers of any man or Pokemon would use them to control Groudon to create more landmark or Kyogre to swallow all the continants of the world." Zinnia explained.

"But both would lead disasterous results. If those who hold the orbs for a too much period of time, they could end up bonding with them into their bodies that would cause harm to them and only one side could win before both orbs could expel themselves out of the bodies. At that time, I had been investigating on my own to see if I could stop both of them. But, there was no need. On the ancient ruins island, as I snuck in there, the Kanto Region Champion, Lance, and a boy with a Pikachu and his friends had done a good job in saving the world." she continued.

The boy with the Pikachu...Alain recalled Mairin telling him about a boy named Ash Ketchum who had a Pikachu, the same kid of saved Grochomp from going berserk when they first met. So he couldn't help but ask, "That boy with a Pikachu, he wouldn't happen to be the one who came here to Limoise City months back, would he?"

"Got it in on that one." Zinnia shrugged. "That Pikachu, for being such a small Pokemon, had no control over the orb that controlled Groudon, and so was possessed by it, because Groudon sought out the Pikachu's aid. It was that Pikachu who made the difference. Groudon won the battle and peace returned. Both Pokemon returned to their rightful places for a long time."

"Until the stone that could Mega Evolve Rayquaza was found." Alain realised, the realization hitting him hard like a tone of bricks. It was the human error that caused the Houen Region and the world to be nearly destroyed. Despite the efforts and that Rayquaza had actually won the battle, the stone now in the hands of Lysandre, the young man couldn't help but suddenly feel the slow growing progress that he might've actually been tricked.

Zinnia, as if sensing his thoughts, nodded gravely, "It can be easy to make mistakes, and human errors in such knowlage of history and Pokemon can sometimes be catastrope. I know that that stone was taken, but I fear that what happened in the Houen Region could repeat here in Kalos."

So Lysandre did not realise the dangers that could happen. Alain clutched his fist tightly, the crushing realization that was dawning closer and closer. Even worse, he realised that it was a more dangerous situation than Professor Sycamore's research in Mega Evolution. On top of everything else, it had Mairin, an innocent girl, a rookie Pokemon trainer, the overly curious child, involved.

His thought progress halted at this, before gazing up at Zinnia and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have met a girl earlier, would you? About ten years old?"

"No," Zinnia shook her head, before continuing, "But I have noticed her when I arrived in Kalos. However, I fear that she may be in danger, for she was being spied on."

"By who?" Alain quired, now slowly fearing for Mairin's safety.

"A tall man, a wandering traveller. I've seen him when I first came here in my childhood." Zinnia replied, "No one knows who he is, but he tried to take me, because he told me that if I run away in fear, then no one would come looking, and that there would be people who would come looking as long as I continued to run in fear. He attempted to take me, but, well, I managed to out run him. But that man is smart, and I fear that he has connections with the ancient Kalos King, as though they were the same person."

"Uh...the Ancient Kalos King?" Alain blinked, "I think I remember hearing about the legend of that man. As legend goes, he created a Weapon that nearly destroyed all life in the world which was built in Kalos."

"As have I." Zinnia nodded, "But my point is, the man who had eyes on the girl you seek, he goes by the name only as AZ, and I fear that if he is not stopped soon, then he could discover to find where she went."

The young man felt his blood run cold. Whoever this AZ person was, he was dangerous, and Alain suddenly realised that if he didn't get to Mairin first, then she's in danger, no matter where she went. Despite her being safe in Kanto for now, AZ could easily ask around, and then Mairin would have no where to run.

"I have to get to Kanto before AZ does." Alain decided with determination. "I have to find Mairin. It's my fault that she ran away."

"Then I guess I found my Kanto travelling buddy." Zinnia grinned. When Alain quirked an eyebrow in confusion, Zinnia then digged into her pockets and then pulled out a pair of airplane tickets, saying, "I kind of got myself two tickets in case I lose one of them, but me being smart in not losing either of them, I needed someone to join me, and also to prevent AZ from doing anything dangerous."

Despite the offering, Alain remained supicious, and asked, "Should I trust you?"

"That's entirely your choice." Zinnia shrugged. "But if you like, I'm sure my little Asur wouldn't mind." before turning to the Whismer and winked cutely, "Is that okay with you, Asur?"

"Whismer, Whis!" The Whismer, apparently nick-named Asur, replied, in which Zinnia figured that the Pokemon didn't mind at all.

Even though Alain still had a lot on his mind, and he couldn't help but wonder whether he should trust Zinnia or not, and that whether Lysandre was actually using him for his own mysterious goals or not. But then again, maybe Alain was just as gullible as Mairin was. And if Zinnia was telling the truth, then Alain might have to question his boss about the nature on making the world better. If he didn't like then, then, well, Alain would just have to resign.

"Alright, I'll join you." Alain replied. Besides, he would have to, in an uncomfortable way, make sure that Lysandre didn't know about his next destination.

"I knew you would." Zinnia nodded, before asking, "So, care to tell me your name?"

"It's Alain." The young man answered.

* * *

Meanwhile, in his search for the little girl, the tall man arrived at the heart of the destiny that was going to befall of Kalos, and grinned evilly to himself. He had another goal in mind, and a sacrifice with on his current Pokemon would do the job, on way or another.

"Salamence, go and get the Zygarde Cells." The man simply threw a Pokeball into the air and out came the dragon Pokemon, who, by his command, flew towards the building the Lysandre Labs.

"There is nowhere to run. Mark my words." said the Man, who came to known himself as AZ.

* * *

In the middle of the night in the Pokemon Center in Virdian City, everyone has gone off to bed, and Mairin and Chespie were both asleep in one of the trainers sleeping courters. But then, another nightmare was hitting Mairin hard, and, despite still clearly asleep, she began shaking and cold sweat was slowly forming on her forehead.

 _No one knew what caused Chespie to fall into a comatose state or even have it glowing in strange green, but Mairin was devastated. Despite that the Lysandre Lab's Nurse Joy's thoughts that Chespie would be just fine, Mairin blamed herself for not paying attention, and had cried, heartbroken. She then decided that she would stop travelling until her Pokemon recovered._

 _She has spent several weeks at Chespie's bedside, and refused to leave the room. So far, there were no changes, and while Mairin was relieved that her Pokemon wasn't getting worse, she was afraid that it could change into getting worse. She was even more terrified on the thought that Chespie could die._

 _"I'm so sorry, Chespie." Mairin whispered. As she gently rubbed her unconscious Pokemon's head, all of the sudden, the door opened behind her, and when she turned around, men in orange suits suddenly stormed up towards her and to her shock, roughly grabbed hold of her arms and pulled her to stand._

 _"W-what!? H-hey! Lemme go!" Mairin screamed, trying to break free, but it was useless. To add to the confusion, Lysandre walked in, calm as ever. She looked up to him and cried out, "Mr. Lysandre! What's going on?"_

 _However, Lysandre's mouth curled up into a sinister smile, one that made Mairin suddenly scared, as he simply told her, "I'm afraid your Chespie has caused problems in my plans, young lady, and had helped one of my experiments escape. That is why your Pokemon landed in comatose."_

 _Experiments? What was he talking about? Mairin didn't know what was going on, and she didn't like it one bit. Her fear only grew when he added, "On the other hand, with you captive, it'll only keep Alain in line for me to free this world from humanity."_

 _Before Mairin had the chance to say anything, Lysandre then told the grunts that were holding the girl, and ordered them, "Lock her up in a cell."_

 _"Sir." The grunts nodded, before dragging the screaming Mairin away._

 _"W-wait! What's going on!? What about Chespie!?" Mairin screamed, but she was ignored, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape, and all she could do was helplessly try and get a glance on her comatose Pokemon and in tears of frustration and fear, Mairin could only cry out to her Pokemon..._

"Chespie!" Mairin gasped, bolting upright, panting, while Chespie, hearing his trainer's cry, woke up with a fright, freaking out and wondering what was going on, before realising that it was only Mairin who looked around, before realising it was just another nightmare.

The young trainer gazed at her Pokemon in her arms, and, with tears of relief and guilt, she hugged him, muttering Chespie's name, and softly cried, refusing to let go. Chespie was confused on what was going on, before worry filled the small Pokemon's heart, and the only thing he could do was hug her back.

Mairin refused to move, for she feared that Chespie would just disappear, or worse, fall into comatose. Even worse, now her slight fear and paranioa over Lysandre only grew worse. Maybe it was a good thing that she didn't go after Alain in the Labs, but then another realization hit her so hard, it only made her cry even more. He was in danger of being ordered to do something horrible for Lysandre, all because of her.

At this, she made it quite clear to herself now. Mairin had to stay away from Kalos, stay away from Alain, and stay away from her parents. She would never return to the Region of her origins ever again, if it meant to keep them safe, and to keep Chespie safe with her as well.

"...This is all my fault." Mairin whispered.

* * *

Everything was in chaos in the Lysandre Labs, that no one, not even Lysandre himself, saw this coming. A Salamence that just appeared out of nowhere began to cause severe damage to the building with it's Hyperbeam attack that caught so many off-guard. To make things worse, it was five times bigger than it's normal size, for it was almost a size of a dragon.

The members of Team Flare and the Science Department were so busy in trying and epically failing to capture and sustain the Salamence, that not even Lysandre was aware that AZ had snuck into the burning inferno of the halls of the wrecks doors and buildings, calmly approaching the small green Pokemon cells who all gazed up in fear and anger at the much taller man. AZ grinned, before holding up a jar and one by one, plucked the small Pokemon into the jar, before sealing it shut, and then calmly walked out.

* * *

A bright flash of light lit up the computer room, where the giant Mega Stone was, and because of the destruction, it was now once again uncontained, and in an instant, it vanished without a trace.

* * *

Reaching a blasted hole that was made by another Hyperbeam, still calm, AZ smiled in sastifaction, as Salamence appeared, and offered him a ride on it's back. "Good work, Salamence. Let us be off." AZ smirked, before calmly climbing aboard, before ordering it, "Now, back to Limoise City!"

Salamence roared, before taking flight, and scaling across the ocean towards it's destination.

* * *

Half an hour later, when the emegency crews arrived, there was no one in sight. In the air, one of the surviving helicopters flew across the ocean, as Lynsandre, furious over the sudden attack, could only clutch his fist in anger. So far, he knew that Alain had nothing to do with it, and his friend, that little girl named Mairin, was too young, too new, and too naive to do something like this.

"Do we know who caused this?" Lysandre questioned.

"No, sir." said one of the helicopter pilots. "All of the security cameras were destroyed in the destruction. That Salamene's owner is unknown at this time."

' _All of my hard work...all of the progress...my goals for a better world...reduced to nothing!_ ' Lysandre thought angrily. The building was destroyed, the Mega Stone was gone, and so were the Zygarde Cells. All of his work had been for nothing, and now he would have no choice but to begin anew. Even worse, he would have to relocate.

"Make port to one of the nearby cities." He finally ordered. "We'll have to start all over again."

"Yes, sir." the remaining members of Team Flare replied.

Well, at least Alain was still alive, so that wasn't a major loss. On the other hand, now Lysandre's plots were growing increasingly thin. Whoever had done this was going to pay dearly for this.

* * *

As Alain and Zinnia boarded the plane which took off towards the Kanto Region, neither of them were completely aware of what just happened, nor what was happening to Mairin in Kanto. One thing Alain did know, however, was that he had to find her, and keep her safe from AZ before it was too late.

As they crossed over the ocean from the Kalos Continant, Alain gazed out, while thinking to himself, ' _Mairin...everything's going to be okay._ '

To be Continued...

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews and favorites, guys, and again, sorry for the long major delay. Had trouble in how to write this chapter.**


	4. Chapter four: Fear but new Pokemon

**Author's note: I am terribly sorry for the long delay, guys. Loss of inspiration of this story, but as of yet, here is the new chapter you've all been waiting for.**

 **I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo/Pokemon Company.**

* * *

Chapter four: Fear but new Pokemon.

Mairin couldn't get to sleep for the rest of the night after another nightmare, and Chespie had been far too worried to go back to sleep as well. So, both of them had stayed up for another three hours until morning finally came and the Pokemon Center opened for another day. Even so, Mairin didn't stay for breakfest. She was far too upset with the way things were going and how her nightmares were making her become slowly blind to everything around her and her Pokemon.

So Mairin and Chespie left the Pokemon Center earlier than anyone else staying over for the day, which was noticed by Dawn, Piplup and Nurse Joy who noticed the unusually early departure of a Pokemon trainer. But the two inhabits of Kalos payed no mind to anyone seeing this as odd.

However, Mairin had been so lost in her guilt and thoughts that she mindlessly crossed the road without checking the crossing-lane lights before she stopped right in the middle. Chespie likewise had been too concerned to even sense or hear incoming traffic.

"What am I gonna do, Chespie?" Mairin whispered, tears threatening to fall. Her chest felt tight and swollen, and a large lump was in her throat that she felt like she was drowning. "I can't do anything right...!"

"Ches..." Chespie could only mutter in great worry.

Just then, the sound of a car's horn finally snapped the two of them out, but too late. Mairin and Chespie both looked to their right and to their horror, a car was heading straight towards them and was trying to slow down but the driver knew that ther chances of Mairin and Chespie surviving were slim.

But Mairin didn't move. She felt frozen in fear and panic, and all she could do was scream while holding the screaming Chespin in her arms as the two braced themselves for their upcoming possible deaths.

"Look out!" Dawn cried out as she and Piplup both pushed and shoved Mairin and Chespie to the other side of the road while avoiding the car that nearly ran over them, and both young trainers and their starter Pokemon rolled to the safety of the other side of the road, coming to a stop. All four of them could only sit up, panting while the driver pulled his car to a stop.

He briefly opened the door of his car, and swung his fist in the air, yelling out angrily, "Watch it, kids!" before slamming the door shut and then took off once more.

But Mairin only shuddered. That had been a close call. Too close. She and Chespie could've died, and she knew that it was her own fault. She felt so terrible. She was an awful trainer. A pathetic, useless, naive, mindlessly, horrible, stupid, clumsy and awful trainer, she decided now.

"That wasn't very nice, mister!" Dawn yelled out at the driver who was gone by now.

"Piplup, Piplup!" Piplup echoed angrily.

Sighing and deciding to check on the new trainer and the new Pokemon she'd never seen before, Dawn glanced back to Mairin and asked gently, "Are you guys okay?"

Mairin turned to the other trainer who had saved her life and Chespie, and Dawn smiled, adding, "That was a close one, huh?"

But all Mairin felt was guilt and despair. It was because of her that this new girl and her Piplup could've died in saving her and Chespie. Unable to handle it any longer, all she could say was, "T-Thank you. I'm really sorry. C'mon, Chespie."

Mairin then scooped up Chespie into her arms, before slightly bowing her graditude to Dawn and Piplup, before quickly running off down the street, much to their and everyone else's confusion. Mairin just continued to run, not even hearing Dawn's call to wait.

This made the Sinnoh trainer and her Pokemon concerned. Something was very wrong. Dawn and Piplup both glanced at each other worriedly, wondering helplessly on what in the world just happened to the girl and the new Pokemon, none of them even knowing what Mairin and Chespie had gone through or were going through now.

* * *

Releasing the Zygarde cells, and the little one with the pink core back to where they belonged wasn't a difficult task for AZ. It's locating the little girl that escaped him that was the hard part. He could not make his appearence known to the people of Lumoise City since now everyone's been talking about the girl having run away. So he had opted to return the Zygarde cells home.

"If she wants to continue running, then I am her only hope." AZ muttered darkly. He would not allow her to continue to escape.

He then continued as he recalled noticing one single helicopter fleeing the now destroyed labs earlier and knew what it meant. "But first...exterminate the threat of Kalos."

AZ has some work to do.

* * *

When Alain and Zinnia arrived in the Kanto Airport, they both asked around for any signs of Mairin and Chespie, but so far, no one else had seen any trainer described of whom they were looking for, and Alain was growing increasingly worried. The guilt he felt for the last nearly 48 hours was continuing to grow.

It really was his fault.

"We'll find her." Zinnia told him, snapping Alain back to reality. "We can search the entire Kanto Region if we have to."

"Yeah." Alain replied, not really focusing right. He had to find Marin, and apologuise for the way he had been acting towards her. He had to protect her from AZ.

He will look all over Kanto if he had to.

Suddenly he had an idea. Searching by land and asking people around would take days. But what if he searched by air? That's it! Alain, nodding to himself, pulled out a pokeball and called out, "Charizard, lets go!"

From the flash of the Pokeball, Alain's closest friend and partner, Charizard appeared, roaring before landing next to his human trainer and friend.

Zinnia, after seeing what Alain was doing, smiled. "Now there's an idea." she admitted, really impressed.

* * *

An hour after leaving Viridian City in tears, Mairin and Chespie stopped in the middle of Viridian Forest, where the former had now slumped to the ground, her head buried in her arms that were on a log as she sobbed. Chespie could only try his best to comfort his trainer as best as he could.

After another five minutes of sobbing, Mairin was reduced to nearly having hiccups, her throat sore, and her eyes all redy and puffy from all of the crying. She rubbed her eyes to rid the tears, but was still upset. "I'm an awful trainer." She muttered.

"Ches..." Chespie shook his head, before patting his trainer's arm.

"You don't think so?" Mairin asked when she saw the negavite shake her partner did when she mentioned she was an awful trainer, only for Chespie to have done that to try and tell her in his language that she was not an awful trainer.

"Chespin, Ches, Chespin." Chespie said, nodding.

Despite the reassurance from her beloved Pokemon, and it did make her smile a little, Mairin sighed and replied, "I don't know, Chespie. Everything I do is a complete mess up."

Chespie shook his head again and tried to mimick the recent events that they both went through, like how they both sneaked on board and had jumped out of the aircraft to rescue Alain who had been knocked unconscious. Despite how weird the movements looked, Mairin suddenly got the picture and sighed, before shrugging and said, "I guess saving Alain was the most unclumsy thing we both ever did, huh Chespie?"

"Chespin!" Chespie nodded.

Giggling a little at the memory of her and Chespie heroics, Mairin said, "Maybe you're right. Plus, I guess we were returning the favor when Alain saved us." which then brought back the memories of before she and Chespie ran away from Kalos and sighed again. She realised that deep down, she did want to see him. She wanted to go home, back to Kalos.

But her nightmares. They were pludging fear into her heart. They were so realistic. First was the ones of strange people attempting to kidnap her before it shifted to Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza killing her. Then was the nightmare of Lysandre taking her away from the comatose Chespie.

"But still..." Mairin muttered as she tried to shake those memories out of her mind. "I'm so scared."

Seeing how his trainer was still sad, Chespie sighed. Just then, there was rustling from the bushes near them, alarming both Mairin and Chespie who both flinched and quickly gazed at the rustling bush that seemed to get more violent, meaning that something was with them and was getting closer.

Paranoia quickly forming, Mairin and Chespie both became frightened and the former quickly scooped up the latter into her arms, hugging him closer to her chest and unable to move in paralyzing fear. Not wanting to see whatever was coming at them, Mairin and Chespie closed their eyes and braced themselves...only to hear an unusual but surprisingly cute sound.

Hestiatedly, the two slowly opened their eyes, only to have their fear drained away and only gazed at the lone Caterpie that crawled out of the bushes. Surprised while definately relieved, Mairin stood up after Chespie leaped onto the ground.

"It's a Caterpie." Mairin said, before gazing at it's face for a long time, and smiled. "It's so cute."

"Chespin." Chespie gazed at Mairin, so thought thinking along the same lines.

Mairin then realised, that she shouldn't spend her time in Kanto crying and that this was the fresh start she and Chespie had come here for. Not to mention that Mairin wanted to capture the adorable Caterpie. Making up her mind, she turned to Chespie and said, "Come on, Chespie! Let's catch that Caterpie!" with excitement growing.

Seeing that his trainer was serious, Chespie then regained his own confidence and pumped a fist in agreement, before getting ready for battle.

The Caterpie seemed to quickly understand where this was going and realised that it had to battle against a human and a trained Pokemon. In response, it then spat out a String-Shot attack at Chespie.

"Chespie, try dodging it and then use Pin Missile!" Mairin quickly commanded as soon as she saw the String Shot attack, knowing that if that attack got to Chespie, then he'll end up stuck for a while. In her time with Alain, she watched his battle style in attacking and doding and tried her best to memorize it during their travels.

Chespie leaped out of the way just in time before firing a Pin Missile attack at Caterpie who panicked but was quickly hit in a small explosion. While Chespie landed safely on the ground, the smoke cleared and Caterpie was already knocked out, dazed.

"I think that was a K.O." Mairin thought with a sweatdrop, having not expected for the battle to end so quickly.

"Ches..." Chespie sweatdropped as well, embarrassed for having overdone his attack too much on the Bug-Type Pokemon.

Suddenly Mairin gasped and realised, "Oh, right! I still have to catch it!" before digging into her backpack before pulling a Pokeball and tossed it at the Caterpie, shouting, "Go, Pokeball!"

The pokeball hit it's mark and snapped open before absorbing the Caterpie inside, before sealing shut and landed onto the ground, where it rocked and rolled a little with the little light flashing red in tensed few moments, before it stopped and the familiar " _Ping_ " echoed and the light stopped flashing. Mairin and Chespie both let out the tensed breath they had been holding, before realisation hit them and both of them beamed smiles.

"Chespie, we did it! We got Caterpie!" Mairin cheered happily, jumping up and down in the air.

"Chespin, Ches!" Chespin cheered as well.

* * *

A little while later, after quickly using a super potion to heal up their new friend, Mairin introduced her new Caterpie to Chespie and her Flabebe(AKA: Bebe) who got long happily already. "Cater, I hope we'll make great friends." Mairin said to the Caterpie who was now nick-named Cater.

Cater happily nodded at it's new trainer, liking it's new nickname.

Mairin giggled with a smile. She still didn't know where she and her three Pokemon would go, but this was a start of a brand new journey. While she wasn't looking forward to sleep tonight as the sun had already half-set, the sky having turned orange, the sun's light shining through the trees while making a beautiful scene all around them, she was hoping for a nightmare-free sleep.

After finding some healthy and safe fruit to eat for dinner, all four of them made a small campfire(thanks to Alain's lessons he taught to Mairin) as Mairin had pulled out her sleeping back and after recalling her two other Pokemon, she and Chespie slid into their sleeping bag and hoped to get some sleep.

"I don't know where we're going, Chespie." Mairin whispered as she held her Pokemon in her arms. "But maybe we can just explore Kanto until we find something that'll give us a goal. What do you think?"

"Ches...Ches." Chespie nodded tiredly as he yawned, before closing it's eyes and fell asleep in his trainers arms.

The young trainer smiled, before gently planting a kiss on her Pokemon's head, whispering, "Goodnight, Chespie. Hope you have sweet dreams." then she snuggled up and willed herself to close her eyes. Finding herself having been so tired after today's events, Mairin was asleep in around five minutes herself.

* * *

Unknowingly to Mairin and her three Pokemon, Alain, Charizard, Zinnia and Asur made camp about halfway from where they were but had no luck in finding the said young trainer yet due to the trees blocking the path. Alain sighed in half-guilt, half-disappointment while he ate the stew Zinnia made for all of them.

"You really care for that girl, don't you?" Zinnia asked knowingly, as she and Alain sat on the log near the campfire.

"It's...complicated." Alain replied. He knew, though, that she was right. He did care about Mairin. Like Professor Scyamore, Mairin was someone dear to him. She was his friend. All he wants was to see her smile again, to be the Mairin he met a long time ago.

As though reading his mind, Zinnia nods, and said, "I'm certain that she'll be fine. Probably just an emotional wreck right now."

The young man gazed questionly at the woman, asking, "How would you know?"

"Because I was like you not that long ago." Zinnia replied, closing her eyes for a moment, before gazing up at the sky in the clearing they camped at, staring at the stars and the full moon that glowed brightly. "Asur...was the name of my beloved daughter."

"Your daughter?" Alain blinked, caught off-guard. Charizard seemed surprised to hear this too, while Asur the Whismer titled to the side slightly, curious on what her trainer was talking about. Alain didn't think that Zinnia was a mother.

"Shocking, I know." Zinnia chuckled at their reactions, before continuing, "She was...a bit younger than your friend. I loved her so much. She was my entire world..."

Her expression became that of sadness as she lowered her head slightly, as tears began to slowly form as she relived a memory that never left her as Zinnia continued, "Then one day...something terrible happened."

 _Flash-Back:_

 _Everything was happening too fast. Zinnia didn't know why this was happening, nor did her eight year old daughter, Asur who was an spitting image of her mother. A herd of Wailords were angry and on rampage, attacking the cruise ship they were both on. There was no order of evacuation due to the fact that any Wailord around them would no doubt continue their attack or Arceus forbid, swallow them up._

 _"Mommy!" Asur screamed, clinging onto her mother, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm scared!"_

 _"It's okay, sweetheart, I've got you." Zinnia clinged onto her beloved daughter while glaring at the rampaging Wailords, wondering what in the world was causing this to happen. Did the cruise hit their resting grounds or something? No, she sensed that it was more than that. Wailords don't usually do this._

 _Which meant that this was caused by human error of some sorts. She wasn't sure why she thought this, but she had a hunch anyway._

 _Another furious Wailord with red-angry eyes then slammed into the boat again, causing it to tilt dangerously to the side and nearly knocking Zinnia and Asur overboard, but the former managed to hang on to both the railing and her daughter without falling in._

 _"That's it, we're getting out of here." Zinnia decided._

 _"But what about the other people on the boat?" Asur asked worriedly._

 _As much as it pained her to abandon other people and abandon ship, Zinnia gazed at daughter with regret in her eyes, saying, "I'm sorry, Asur. There's nothing we can do for these people. We can only hope and pray for the best."_

 _Without waiting for a reply, Zinnia pulled out a pokeball and tossed it, calling out, "Salamence, come out!"_

 _Out from the flash, Salamence appeared before flying towards it's trainer and her daugther who both climbed onboard it's back, as Zinnia told it. "Let's go, and hurry!"_

 _Roaring in agreement, Salamence took to the sky with it's passengers and away from the nearly sinking ship. However, it seemed that the Wailord had other ideas as another Wailord fired a Water-Pulse attack at the trio._

 _Asur noticed this and screamed out, "Water-Pulse coming!"_

 _Hearing her daughter's scream, Zinnia turned around and gasped at this, before ordering her Pokemon, "Salamence, dodge to the right!"_

 _But it was too late as unexpectedly, another Water-Pulse from another Wailord came from the front and blasted onto all three of them who didn't even have time to scream. Now plummeting to the sea, they fell without any hope of stopping._

 _"MOMMY!" Asur screamed, tears already escaping her eyes as she fell towards the ocean._

 _"Asur! I'm coming!" Zinnia shouted as she tried to glide towards her daughter, in desperate hopes to save her. She couldn't lose her. Not her beloved Asur._

 _Unfortunately, it was already too late as Zinnia was still too far away and like in the movies, another Wailord jumped out from the ocean, it's mouth gapped wide open and to her horror, Asur fell right in screaming before her scream was cut off when the Wailord slammed it's mouth shut, engulfing the helpless little before before sinking back into the ocean._

 _"ASUR!" Zinnia screamed in devasation and was about to meet the same fate when her Salamence came to her rescue before flying away, despite her orders to go and find the Wailord that swallowed up her beloved daughter. But deep down, she knew that it was already too late, and it would take her forever to find the right Wailord since they all looked practically the same._

 _Soon enough, she was carried away to somewhere...away from her beloved Asur. Zinnia soon broke down into heartbroken tears, unable to deny it any longer._

 _Her baby girl was gone._

 _A bit later, after Salamence landed on a beach on an island to rest, Zinnia collasped onto the sand and sobbed. Her daughter...her only child...her beloved Asur...she was dead. Her baby girl...Zinnia failed as a mother to protect her child who meant the entire world to her. Salamence's attempts to comfort her did nothing to mend the hole that ripped open in her heart._

 _"Oh, Asur..." Zinnia sobbed._

 _"Whismer..." A squeaky, small soft voice suddenly sounded._

 _"Huh?" Zinnia lifted her tearful face up, and to her and Salamence's surprise, a small Whismer that was struggling to climb onto the shores as though it had a rough night in the ocean as well. Suddenly finding herself unable to allow such a small Pokemon to struggle, Zinnia stood up and rushed over, her knees deep into the saltly water as she scooped up the shivering Whismer in her arms._

 _Feeling how freezing cold it was, Zinnia wrapped her cloak around the small Pokemon attempting to warm it up, as it shuddered and made a movement to cry. "Shh...it's okay. It's alright, little one. You're safe, now." Zinnia whispered in comfort._

 _The Whismer gazed up at the human woman that saved it's life, and, even though it was hard to tell, Zinnia suddenly knew, this one was a female. It had a curious but hopeful look...just like her daughter did. While she knew that she must be losing her mind, Zinnia strangely felt that this pokemon was the reincarnation of her daughter, and she knew, she had to take care of the little one._

 _"...You'll be safe...my Asur." Zinnia whispered, decided there and then that the Whismer would be named after her daughter and she would take good care of her._

End of Flash-Back.

Once Zinnia finished her story, while shed a tear before wiping it away, Alain was at loss. He didn't know what to say. Zinnia had gone through so much hardship in her life. First the attack from AZ when she was just a child, and then years later...Zinnia lost her daughter in an unusual attack.

"So you know what happened." Zinnia concluded.

"...I'm sorry." Alain eventually muttered. The very thought of losing someone important haunted him and it made him even more determined to find Mairin and keep her safe.

"That's why, when I heard wording through out Lumoise City, I wanted to help you find your friend, Alain." Zinnia said, while accepting Alain's apology of the loss. "I won't let AZ harm anyone else."

"Whis?" Asur muttered, in slight confusion.

"Zinnia...I guess we both have something in common." Alain said, memories of when he saved Mairin and Chespie from one of Rayquaza's attacks in Houen, even though they both returned the favor in saving him when he was knocked out during the battle of Groudon and Kyogre. However, he felt guilty because he managed to protect the ones important to him, while Zinnia wasn't able to save her daughter, and, really, it wasn't fair.

Zinnia nodded, before saying, "Not all lives can be saved, Alain. But that does not mean we cannot save Mairin. Because we can save her and protect her."

"Yeah." The younger trainer whispered in agreement. Plus, Kanto was fairly a safe place, so Mairin had to be okay for now.

Only if AZ didn't know about her whereabouts.

* * *

 **A/N: Since none of us really know how Zinnia in the Delta Episode lost her daughter, I decided to make up a scenario on how it actually happened. I'm disappointed that Zinnia and AZ will never be in the Anime and the Pokemon Z is for anime use only.**

 **Ah, well, things like this happen. Please look forward to the next chapter and sorry about the delay again.**


	5. CH5: Nightmares only getting Worse

**Author's note: I am so getting bad with updates. Sorry about that, guys. Anywho, here's a new chapter.**

 **I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo/Pokemon Company.**

* * *

Chapter five: Nightmares only getting Worse.

Just when Lysandre thought things just couldn't get any worse, his aircraft has suddenly lost one of it's engines and he and the remaining members of Team Flare were plummeting towards the ocean below them. If it weren't for the fact that the cockpit he and his pliots were in was also part submarine that would save their lives, the aircraft would've taken all of them out and they would've died. Good thing he had Xerosic to help develop this paticular craft.

As the second engine exploded, Lysandre just calmly pushed a botton on his chair just as they all hit the ocean floor. The moment it did, there was an explosion of a ball of fire that erupted into the sky. In the water, however, a small submarine dove away from the flames that leaked on the ocean's surface and only dove deeper into the sea.

While the Team Flare members sighed in relief at the close call, Lysandre closed his eyes and told them, "Change of plans. Head course to the land where most Pokemon that are capble of mega evovling are mostly seen."

"Sir?" The pilot muttered.

The Team Flare leader looked at the pilot coldly in the eye and answered the unasked question, "Set course for the Kanto Region."

Not questioning this, the remaining members of Team Flare did as they were told and piloted the newly adapted Submarine towards the land of Kanto, which, unaware at the moment, was where both Alain and his little friend, the little girl, were at right now. But if Lysandre knew about their whereabouts, that could drastically change.

* * *

Up in the air, AZ, riding on his Salamence who had done it's job in bringing down the aircrfat, frowned as he didn't see any floating bits of bodies that were supposed to surface before sinking into the bottom of the sea, which meant one thing that made him very angry.

"I can read Lysandre's mind." AZ thought to himself after using his unusual ability to do so and furrowed his brows. "They are heading to the Kanto Region."

He then commanded his Salamence to head towards the Kanto Region to finish what he intended to do to Team Flare. He would have to wait to find the little girl until the threat of Lysandre is quelled and put to rest. Little did he know, that upon his arrival to that region, he'd be killing two birds in one stone.

* * *

 _Mairin couldn't understand what was happening to Lumoise City. With a panicked Chespie in her arms, the two were running aimlessly as they ran from moving red and brown plant coils that destroyed the city, as though a giant mutant tree had attacked from a horror sci-fi movie. They suddenly then found themselves blocked off as more of the coils appeared in front of them, before forming a cage that trapped them._

 _The coils then made the move to attack Mairin and Chespie who both screamed as the former did her best to protect her Pokemon while collasping to the ground and braced themselves. Just then..._

 _"MAIRIN!" A familiar voice screamed out, and then the sound of something impaling someone through flesh and bone, which was quickly followed by the sound of a gurgled gagging of pain and shock came with it._

 _Things then seem to freeze. When Mairin and Chespie looked up after realising they were still okay, their eyes widened in pure horror and agony as Alain stood there in front of them, his arms stretched out and had been shielding them...but was impaled right through his chest by the coils. Blood seeped out from his body and he fell limp, with the coils still impaled in his chest._

 _Tears filling her eyes, Mairin screamed out, "ALAIN!"_

 _Suddenly the entire world changed around her, and Mairin suddenly found herself held in the air by some mechanical devices that cuffed her hands and feet and she couldn't move. The sky was dark and blood red. Trying to figure out what was going on, Mairin then realised she was floating above and over a cliff with the ocean in clear view behind her. In front of her, was Lysandre with some device on his right wrist. Next to him, was Alain who was in the same position as Mairin. However, there was a deep bleeding wound in his chest._

 _He didn't seem to breathe. Mairin realised with hurtful horror that her friend could actually be dead. No...it couldn't be._

 _But then...where was Chespie?_

 _"You are the weakest of all people in this miserable world." Lysandre spoke, as he flicked his fingers effortlessly._

 _Just then, to her horror, Mairin saw her Pokemon also hanged in the air, and as the Chespin cried out, a bright red Gyradous appeared from it and with it's wide opened mouth, it instantly gulped up the smaller Pokemon and shut it's mouth, immediately having ate the Chespin._

 _"CHESPIE!" Mairin screamed out, agonized by the loss, tears falling free as she beginning to hyperlate and began to cry. Alain and Chespie...they were both dead. She then gazed up pleadly at the man who had been doing this and cried out, "Why, Mr. Lysandre?"_

 _"Because you foiled my plans to make this world perfect. You and your kind are all the same-depending on help, only making this world lose it's beauty and covering it with the ugliness and cruelty of people like you." Lysandre explained with a dark and cold glare that perched right into Mairin's soul and heart. "Foolish, humans."_

 _Mairin shivered and trembled, terrified. She had no idea what was going on or what Lysandre was talking about, so she trembly said, "W-what do you mean? You're a person too, right Mr. Lysandre?"_

 _The tall man began to laugh evilly which terrified the young trainer even further, as he said, "Have you not realised yet, little girl? I am but a savior of this world who will wipe out humanity and rebuilt this world into what it was supposed to be! So, I suggest you look towards your gate towards the land of darkness, as punishment for your crimes."_

 _That's when she looked back as best as she could and screamed in horror as a giant menance looking red bird that looked like the letter Y floated behind her. Mairin struggled against her bounds, but she was stuck tight._

 _"Goodbye...human." Lysandre grinned and with a flick of his wrist, the bird screeched loudly and lunged for the kill._

 _Mairin looked just in time to see the bird open it's beak as it unleashed a powerful attack that looked like a hyperbeam attack but it was black and purple and she screamed as it was close to hit her in the finishing blow..._

Screaming as she bolted upright, Mairin panted as Chespie woke up in alarm and fright at his trainer's scream. In the meantime, looking around and finding herself in Viridian Forest and the sun had just began to rise, Mairin sighed in relief, before gazing at Chespie. With tears and trying so hard not to break down, Mairin scooped up her Pokemon and gave him a squeezing hug, sobbing in relief.

She had just had another terrible nightmare, which made Mairin realise that her nightmares were just getting worse. Why, though? She was keeping a distance from herself and Kalos...from Alain...from Lysandre. It should've been easier and the nightmares would've been fading away. Or perhaps it was a warning to keep her away from her home or else those she loved would fall under Lysandre's goals and die.

"Ches?" Chespie asked once Mairin loosened her grip after almost accidently suffocating him.

After hesitating a few moments, Mairin mumbled, "I'm so scared, Chespie." before she hugged him again. So concerned, Chespie embraced her again. It seemed that coming here wasn't helping her nightmares at all.

Mairin then thought about what Lysandre mentioned in her nightmare, and then thought back about the man who attempted to kidnap her back in Lumoise City in Kalos. ' _If you run away, small one, there will be others coming for you. There is nowhere to run._ ' His haunting dark voice echoed in her mind. Maybe running away was a bad idea. But, if she didn't...then who knows what would happen if she stayed in Kalos.

She was stuck in a loophole.

Sighing and wiping away her tears, Mairin then said to her Pokemon, "Come on, Chespie. We'd better get going." and stood up to begin packing things up to continue their unknown journey. Chespie only gazed with grave concern for his trainer, before he moved to help her pack.

From the looks of things, though, Mairin might not be her cheerful, optimistic self for a while. Maybe never again at the rate her nightmares keep on haunting her in being driven away further and further, only to become more worse by each day, ever since the Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza incident in the Houen Region. Chespie suddenly wished he could see what was terrifying his trainer so much to the point of becoming even more depressed by each nightmare.

If only Mairin and Chespie knew that Alain was much closer than they thought.

* * *

Alain hadn't gotten to sleep at all, and didn't even feel tired either. His mind had been set on Mairin and wanting to find her, to protect her, to apologuise, and to warn her about the dangers of AZ. He even thought about his actions with Lysandre and the situation that had gotten to this point in the first place. The more he thought about the researcher's actions with the giant Mega Stone that was taken from Houen to Kalos which also resulted in the near catastropic disaster to the world, especially with Groudon and Kyogre were involved, the more he began to realise that he maybe have been tricked and used by Lysandre for selfish goals.

His thoughts were interrupted when his Holo Caster beeped, indicating that he was getting a transmitted call from the director. In disgust and no longer trusting Lysandre, Alain took out the commucator and tossed it as silently as he could, without disturbing the sleeping Zinnia. It cracked upon impact of the soil of the ground, now rendered useless, but he didn't care. He just hoped that when he and Mairin eventually return to Kalos, Lysandre wouldn't send his men to find them for Alain's betrayal.

"I was just about to suggest to turn that thing off." Zinnia's voice spoke, startling the young man as he turned to see that she had woken up and sat up. "Then again, I've never been a fan of those things."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." Alain apologuised.

"Nah, that's okay." The woman shrugged, before taking notice the rather depressed look on the young trainer's face and formed a soft frown in concern. "Did you even sleep last night?"

Looking away slightly, Alain hesitated for a few moments before admitting. "No. Not really. I had too much thought on my mind and I still do." It wasn't the only problem. The more he thought about it, the more he began to realise that going on his journey was really his biggest mistake. If he never left, he never would've been tricked into working for Lysandre. Maybe if he stayed, he would've met Mairin a lot sooner, still as Professor Sycamore's assistant and not as a Mega Evolution trainer. Then she wouldn't have gotten involved in meeting him during his battle with Astrid.

Then Mairin would've been better off just going on her own journey with Chespie, having been inspired more by Ash than Alain himself. Maybe she would've found something else that involved Pokemon rather than Mega Evolution. In the end, it was his fault that she ran away and he knew it. He was beginning to blame himself for what's happened in the Houen Region as well.

"I see." Zinnia quickly understood with a nod. She then looked up again and told him, "We'll find her. I know we will."

"I know." Alain nodded. It was all he said for the rest of the morning, and so after breakfest which was finding an apple tree which thankfully was open for them and not guarded by territorial Pokemon, Alain and Zinnia packed up and then moved onward in hopes of finding Mairin and Chespie.

* * *

Having had breakfest with safe fruit they managed to find without angering wild Pokemon, Mairin and Chespie both wandered aimlessly throughout Viridian Forest, not knowing what to do or how to forget the nightmares that kept on threatening to devour Mairin like a Wailord. Finally, they came to a clearing after passing many other wild Pokemon(and passing the Beedril hive), and the two found themselves on a dirt road leading towards an open field and, as the two realised, to the next town.

Pausing in their steps, Mairin lowered her gaze a little, wondering what she and Chespie would find on their journey in Kanto. Nodding to herself and scooping her Pokemon in her arms again, the young trainer then declared, "Maybe we can find someone who can help us, Chespie." before continuing on towards their next destination.

"What help do you need, young lady?" A voice spoke suddenly next to them.

Startled out of their minds, Mairin and Chespie both cried out in fright as a tallish man, about Alain's height, had just appeared on their right out of nowhere. He had purple hair, and...was sort of dressed in clothes that made him look like a Cacturne as far as Mairin had recongised during her travels with Alain in Kalos. It was a bit weird, but Mairin decided not to mention this.

"Huh?" Mairin blinked, surprised.

"Are you competiting for the Pokemon Contests in Kanto?" asked the man who, unknown to Mairin, was the rival of another one of Ash Ketchum's former companions, May. He was Harley and had just lost to May again in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Rather than having her follow him again, he returne to Kanto to try his luck one more time while May headed off back to Houen to think about a new goal after she won the Ribbon Cup in Sinnoh, becoming Top Coordinator.

Pokemon Contests. Mairin had heard about it. Those beauty contests for Pokemon were located in Houen, Johto, Sinnoh, and even in Kanto. She forgot about that, until now. While they did sound fun, Mairin wasn't sure if it was really her thing. So she smiled politely and shook her head, saying, "No, not really. My Pokemon and I just got here a few days ago from Kalos."

' _Just got here?_ ' Harley thought in quick disgust. He still faked a smile and replied, "I see. Well, this is my second time being here. I'm Harley."

"Nice to meet you, Harley!" Mairin replied, "My name's Mairin, and this is my best Pokemon in the world, Chespie the Chespin!" she introduced herself and her Pokemon who waved a friendly and happy hello.

' _Best Pokemon in the world?_ ' Harley again thought in disgust. Just great, another person to put on his dislike list. What is it with people these days? Don't they respect his pride? Or is it because since he lost to May so many times that people are only starting to see him as just a person and not a strong competitor?

Again, he hid his disgust and replied in fake friendliness, "Pleasure is all mine. So, if you're not a Coordinator, then how come you're here?"

Mairin paused at this, before thinking about that what to say. Should she mention about her interests in Mega Evolution? But that would mean admitting her weakness in running away from Kalos to make a fresh start here in Kanto in order to keep everyone back home safe...from herself from causing catastropic distasters that would spell doom on her loved ones. She then decided not to mention anything about her previous journey for everyone's sake and just shrugged, saying, "I'm just travelling the world to see different places and seeing all kinds of Pokemon. So, I don't have a goal just yet."

She then added, "But really, the main reason why I became a trainer is because there was this guy named Ash Ketchum, who had a Pikachu with him. He helped to calm down a Grachomp in Lumoise City!"

' _What!? May's gullible friend Ash is in Kalos!?_ ' Harley thought again, even more disgusted.

"And then he jumped off the Prisim Tower to save Pikachu! It was totally amazing! So cool." Mairin continued, closing her eyes for a moment as Chespie gazed up at his trainer, wondering why she had just lied a little about their current situation. But when the two of them looked at Harley again, both were surprised and confused as just like as he had suddenly appeared, he now just disappeared without a trace.

Blinking, Mairin looked around, wondering, "Where'd he go?"

"Chespin?" Chespie blinked.

Pouting a little in annoyance, Mairin puffed her cheeks as she grumbled, "That wasn't very nice, disappearing like that." which Chespie echoed her moments in the same annoyance. At least with Alain, he sticked around more than just a few minutes like Harley did. Deciding not to think further about Harley, the two of them just continued onward to their next destination, unaware that Harley had just taken a photo of Mairin from behind a tree as he placed her photo into his ablum of people he really disliked, grumbling about his newest victum on his dislike list before leaving.

* * *

When Mairin and Chespie continued down the path, finally buildings came into view. In slight excitement, the two broke into a run until they leaped onto a rock to get a bit higher, as a sign next to them said, "Welcome to Pewter City" and the town, Pewter City, was just on the horizon.

"Wow...isn't this cool, Chespie?" Mairin asked, becoming excited.

"Ches!" Chespie agreed.

With that, the two them jump off the rock and as Chespie climbed onto Mairin's shoulder, the latter then traced their way into Pewter City to explore, the next of their journey having just began.

But little did Mairin and Chespie, and even Alain and Zinnia know, that the dangers they thought that wouldn't follow them were about to hit Kanto and soon things would change drastically that would no doubt put Mairin's life and the lives of both humans and Pokemon in deadly danger.

To be continued...

* * *

 **A/N: I forgot to put the 'to be continued' part in the last chapter, so I'll fix that up as soon as possible. Sorry that this chapter was shorter than the last time. Please look forward to the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter six: Mairin the chosen actress?

**Author's note: Just had a bit of mixing idea that is not normally taken place in Kanto, but it's also a bit of something from the Black2/White2 games.**

 **I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo/Pokemon Company.**

* * *

Chapter six: Mairin the chosen actress?

Pewter City was a nice looking place too, Mairin thought as she and Chespie made it into the main town and wandered around. While Mairin's mind was still on everything that's happened including the nightmares for the last few days, she tried hard not to think about any of that as they saw more Pokemon native to the Kanto Region, including some that she would see that in Kalos. It wasn't until Chespie noticed something to their left and muttered something in Pokemon language which got his trainer's attention.

"What is it, Chespie?" Mairin asked.

"Ches!" Chespie said as he pointed at something.

Mairin followed her Pokemon's gaze and blinked in confusion as a number of crowds gathered around the Pokemon Centre with a wooden platform in front of it, with a man with a cap, glasses and appeared to be wearing a movie directors clothing. He also had a bit of graying hair and beard and looked into his mid fifties. Curiousity getting the better of the two as usual, Mairin thought, "Wonder what's going on there?" and went over to the crowd who all seemed too busy listening in on what the man on the platform was saying.

Since everyone was almost practically too tall for her, Mairin had to hop up and down to try and get a better look, and could only see every time she hanged in the air for two seconds. She also got the glimse of a clipboard with paper on it, while trying to listen in what the man was saying, though through the excited chattering of the crowd, it was impossible to hear the man who seemed less audiable.

"Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages and with many types of Pokemon!" Said the man on the platform. "I just need one person with the right Pokemon given choice to take up the leading role for my new movie, as a special Pokemon trainer event voulenteer contest! The first to get my attention I shall pick!"

"Me! Me! Me!" Instantly everyone in the crowd except Mairin who just continued to try and see what was going on, raised their hands and had cried out excitedly, hoping to get audition for the new movie for the voulenteer contest. The director flinched at so many people doing this that it was difficult to make his decision...until his eyes caught the sight of someone way into the back who kept on jumping up and down, trying to see what was going on. The dark-red hair...the curious eyes...the young face of a girl...and a rare Pokemon not seen in Kanto in her arms...

Instantly he knew that the girl in the back was perfect. So in a grand-announcer voice and stance, he pointed at Mairin and called out, "I choose...you, young lady! The one in the green hat!"

"Huh!?" Everyone gapped in shock as they all parted away and Mairin who noticed this stopped jumping and while Chespie sighed in relief since his trainer's jumping made him a bit sick, she blinked in confusion at why everyone parted like that...let alone looking at her. When she noticed the man pointing at her, in even further confusion, she pointed at herself and asked, "Who, me?"

The man immediately went over to her and held her hand shaking it, saying happily, "Yes, you! You must be from Kalos, especially since you have a Chespin with you!"

"Uh...yeah, I got here a few days ago." Mairin replied, shocked at the man suddenly appearing in front of her and wondering why he was so happy about this.

"So you have a name?"

"My name's Mairin, and this is my awesome partner Chespie." Mairin introduced herself and Chespie who waved back, recovering after feeling a little better.

The man then teared up and said, "Pleasure is all mine, Mairin." before turning to the crowd and held up Mairin's hand in the air, announcing, "People, I have chosen the voulenteer for my new movie! Presenting, Mairin and Chespie the Chespin: The two of the three main actors for my upcoming movie-The Giant Woman!"

Most of the crowd cheered and congratulated Mairin and Chespie while a few grumbled at the fact that some trainer from Kalos got picked. As for Mairin and Chespie, both of them were shell-shocked at the turn of events and exclaimed while the former reclaimed her arm, "W-what!? Wait a minute, this is a mistake! I don't even know what's going on!"

"You haven't heard of the Voulenteer trainer movie contest? Trainers who voulenteer or get picked to act in a movie get the chance to preform in any movie and get a front seat first class spot when it's released the next day." A random guy explained.

Mairin blushed heavily at this, still shocked about this certain term of events and waved her arms up and down while putting Chespie down and said hurriedly, "W-wait a minute! I only got here to Kanto a few days ago and I just got to Pewter City today, just about half an hour ago!"

"Well, I suppose this is your lucky time to come to Kanto." The director said smiling.

"But I have some...uh...certain things to do." Mairin said, careful on not revealing what she and Chespie had gone through since beginning their journey, while rubbing the back of her head with one hand. "Besides, I don't know how to act and I'm too clumsy to be an actor."

After all, what good can an actor do if they're clumsy and things would just go horribly wrong? Mairin could never picture herself to be in a movie. She would just wreck things up and didn't want to make people mad or disappointed. Not to mention that her nightmares keep on inching closer in getting her to become depressed no matter what she would do. It made her guilty to have to turn down the offer, but what terrified her the most was letting this man down if she accepted. It was going to be a disaster. She just knew it.

"Don't worry. All you have to do is act. I'm fully convinced that you'll do just fine." The director said warmly, causing Mairin and Chespie to look up in surprise. Did this guy really have that much confidence in her?

"You were picked, so there's no point in backing down now." Another trainer about Mairin's age added.

Seeing how she wasn't going to get out of it, and maybe, just maybe, if she didn't get too carried away and be careful with her clumsiness, it might actually be fun. Hesitating, Mairin shrugged reluctantedly and said, "I guess I can give it a try." hoping that she wouldn't regret it.

* * *

When Mairn and Chespie followed the director to a special movie set in a TV studio that was recently built up before their arrival, the two were amazed at the set which was practically finished. Many people and Pokemon were working hard on the final parts of the set. There was a setting of a city that looked so real, and some ghost Pokemon from different regions giving off illusions which looked so convincing. Cameras and such were there as well.

"Wow! This is so awesome! How'd you do it?" Mairin said, excitedly, as Chespie looked around awestruck.

"I've worked on this film for months now." The director said as he had Mairn and Chespie behind him.

"So what's it all about?" Mairin asked, curiously.

"It's about two sisters who have a troubling relationship, and the youngest sister, who is always curious about learning unusual things, brought home a mysterious pokeball that led to an argument. Shortly after this, the said pokeball sucked in the oldest sister." The director explained.

Mairin's eyes widened at this, muttering, "No way...!"

"To make things worse, a mysterious man comes in and steals the Pokeball with the woman inside, propting her sister to go after him, only for the woman to be released and grown into a giant."

"Sounds like a horror movie." Mairin shuddered, as she tried not to shut her eyes and try to instead mentally shake away the images of Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza as well as her nightmares out of her mind.

The director laughed heartedly, "Oh no, it's not a horror movie at all. I've made horror movies before. Last year, I've made a movie about a red fog that sprouts out humaniod monsters that go against humans and pokemon."

Mairin and Chespie both flinched with freaked out expression at the thought of that horror movie of a red fog. The former then said, "So...I'm playing as the little sister in this new movie?"

"Precisely!" The director said happily. "All you have to do is read the script and then act in the best way you can. Just follow my instructions and you should be fine. There will be costumes and your Pokemon here will be perfect since I needed a grass type that wasn't just Bulbasaur or Treecko."

Mairin and Chespie both looked at each other, before thinking about it and decided that they should at least try their luck. Plus, it was something different that would take their minds off of the things they did and it did sound fun. Mairin turned back to the director and said, "Okay, we'll give it a try!"

The director then hugged Mairin and began crying in happiness, "Thank you! I've finally found the right girl for my new movie!" causing the latter to sweatdrop nervously.

* * *

It turned out that Mairin did just fine. She followed the script and acted as though she was in a real-life situation. The constume she wore was comfortable and Chespie helped out with the acting as well. The other actors, the staff and the director were pleased with the two's results. Things went according to plan especially with both the technology and the Pokemon abilities which made things a lot quicker, before the filming was finally over and all that was left was putting in the scenes together, adding in the background music and setting it onto film.

With that, Mairin and Chespie had done their task and the director thanked them for their hard work, allowing them to go now and requested to be at the movie theatres the next night which they promised, actually looking forward to how they managed to do it. So the two headed to the Pokemon Centre to rest up.

"I can't believe I didn't mess up anything." Mairin thought as she and all of her Pokemon sat at the cafetera and ate at the table. She had spagetti and meatballs while Chespie and Cater had apples and Bebe had honey. "I thought I'd wreck everything for sure."

"Ches, Chespin." Chespin said smiling, patting his trainer on the arm as she smiled.

"Thanks, Chespie." Mairin said, before becoming sad again and couldn't help but mutter, "I wonder...how Alain and everybody at home are doing?" which worried her Pokemon, but neither of them knew what to do. Homesickness occured again, but Mairin knew, she couldn't go home. She'll just have to go through it.

* * *

Unaware to the four of them, the one whom Mairin thought she would never see again was just twelve tables away as Alain, Zinnia and Asur sat at another table having their own dinner, having just arrived in the Pokemon Centre a short time ago after being unable to find Mairin and Chespie in Pewter City since they searched around town all day. Even asking around didn't help and everyone kept talking about some movie that was going to be in theatres tomorrow night didn't help.

"She couldn't have gotten too far." Zinnia tried to cheer Alain up as she noticed he was just barely eating his food which was curried rice.

The teenaged trainer sighed and said, "I know...I just can't help but feel like she's actually close and I just keep missing her. It's almost like she's even in the same building right now."

Sighing again, Alain grumbled, "But that's probably my imagination." and even worse, he didn't want to admit it, but it seemed that he was good in losing Mairin but sucked at finding her, while Mairin was the opposite. When they first met, she didn't have a hard time in finding him which annoyed him to no end at first, until finally he eventually allowed her to join him on his journey. Plus, her optimistic personality and happiness was a nice change of pace ever since he agreed to work for Lysandre. Alain then began to wonder if both of them would be happy if he just stayed at Professor Sycamore's lab to continue studying on Mega Evolution rather then finding the Mega Stones and Key Stones.

"I'm sure she hasn't gotten too far." Zinnia replied. "And I'm certain that she's thinking about you."

When Alain gazed at the woman with a questioning brow, Zinnia shrugged and said, "Just my speculation, but my best guess is that she doesn't want you to get hurt, just as you don't want her to be put in danger."

' _Is that why she ran away?_ ' Alain thought as the words struck rather hard on him. No, Mairin wouldn't have run away just because she didn't want him to be put in danger. Something else was going on in the young girl's mind. If only he knew what it was.

As he was thinking about this, Mairin and her Pokemon had finished their dinner and were heading into the sleeping courters to get some sleep for the night, still unaware of Alain's pressence, and so, he was unaware of her pressence as well.

* * *

At the port within Vermilion City late at night, on the beach shoreline near the Lighthouse, the Submarine that travelled from Kalos with great speed finally resurfaced and docked at the shores. The remaining members of Lysandre's team and Lysandre himself stepped out of their vessel and gazed around at their new surroundings, away from the citizens to avoid in causing suspicion.

Lysandre frowned as he tried to make a call to Alain again, but it was left with the user being unavaliable. It made him then mentally question if Alain had anything to do with the situation of what happened to his lab. Though he doubted that and Alain never had a Salamence. Only Charizard. Still, for the young trainer not to answer his calls meant that there was a betrayal, and somehow his gut feelings told him that he was here in Kanto.

"We rest in the Lighthouse for the night. I don't want anyone to see us." Lysandre ordered, in which his men saluted and they all made their way into the Lighthouse.

Little did he know was that AZ was in an abandoned warehouse close by after arriving here first due to Salamence. The tall man frowned as he could feel Lysandre closeby. He would have to wait for his time to strike once again.

* * *

Very late at night, everyone was asleep in the Pokemon Centre. In their room, Mairin and Chespie slept, though there were a few times when Mairn whimpered in her sleep, clinging onto Chespie and tugging at the quilt of the blanket, as she was so close in becoming trapped in another nightmare. However, something was different tonight.

 _Mairin hugged Chespie tight as she collasped to the ground, her back against the stone wall of a cliff as Rayquaza in it's Mega Evolutioned form had them cornered as lightning flashed behind it and thunder roared, giving out a horrifying look. The young trainer was terrified and so was Chespie. Rayquaza then roared and then lunged forward, it's mouth gapped wide open ready to devour it's prey._

 _As the legendary Pokemon got closer, Mairin screamed as she did her best to shield Chespie and shut her eyes as she looked away and braced herself. Then..._

 _Nothing. Everything seemed quiet. Wondering what was going on, Mairin and Chespie both hesitated in looking up. But when they did, they found themselves in another place. They were in a forest that was full of Pokemon of the Kanto Region rather than the cliff area with Rayquaza. Still, the forest just looked rather spooky, like a rainforest. Standing up with Chespie in her arms, Mairin looked around as a clan of wild Mankey climbed from branch to branch above them, ignoring the young human and her trained Pokemon._

 _"Where are we?" Mairin asked._

 _"Chespin!" Chespie suddenly cried out, pointing at something ahead of them._

 _Wondering what had her Pokemon excited, Mairin then noticed that someone was just ten feet away from where she was standing. It was an eight year old girl with short dark hair, ruby eyes and a cloak, looking very young and innocent. She looked curious but sad rather._

 _"Who...?" Mairin began._

 _The little girl turned and then ran further into the woods, prompting Mairin to quickly chase after her as the latter cried out, "W-wait!" with Chespie in her arms since Mairin was afraid that if she let go something would happen to her Pokemon while she didn't pay attention. She continued to run as the path they were on was near a river as Butterfree flew by freely. Eventually they both came to an exit of the forest and Mairin slowed to a stop to gaze at her and Chespie's new surroundings in awe._

 _They had found themselves now in an ancient ruins. It was a bit different compared to the ones in Kalos and Houen she once visited with Alain. Mairin gazed around at the empty ruins while Chespie was stunned in awe at the place. Ancient ruins never ceased to amaze them._

 _Seeing an entrance in one of the old buildings, and curiosity getting the better of her, Mairin carefully but nervously ventured inside and gazed at a picture on the wall, which there was a square hole above it as though a stone tablet was taken away. The picture had three beautiful birds, one that looked made of fire, one made of lightning and the third that looked like it was made from ice._

 _"Are they...Pokemon?" Mairin asked, whispering as though she was afraid that if she raised her voice then something terrible would happen._

 _"They are the legendary birds of Kanto. They can be seen in other worlds of the world too." A young voice spoke from behind her. Startled, Mairin and Chespie turned around to see the little girl they saw run away from them earlier._

 _"Legendary...so they're Legendary Pokemon?" Mairin asked, before questioning, "How do you know about that?"_

 _The little girl walked over to the two as she replied, "My mommy told me stories of all legendary Pokemon all the time. Before I came here all by myself."_

 _"You came here all on your own?" Mairin asked, shocked._

 _"Ches?" Chespie muttered, shocked._

 _The little girl nodded, before turning to the two and said, "I don't blame her for not saving me when something awful happened. I don't even think she knows that I'm okay. But anyway, these Pokemon are very rare." before pointing at each of the bird-Pokemon and explained, "The fire one is Moltres, the lightning one is Zapdos, and the ice one is Articuno."_

 _"Moltres...Zapdos...and Articuno?" Mairin muttered, before becoming very worried and said, "I don't think it's such a good idea to even see Legendary Pokemon. Something terrible could happen and we're not careful, bad people might come after us."_

 _The little girl nodded in agreement and said, "Mommy told me not to talk to bad people or say anything about legends to people, because something might happen. I've been dreaming about this place since the Wailord took me here."_

 _"Huh? What are you talking about?" Mairin asked._

 _"I don't know...but I think somebody bad is already here in Kanto." The little girl said._

 _As Mairin and Chespie wondered what the young girl was talking about, before the former could say anything further, she heard a familiar voice call out her name. When she turned, for a split second Mairin thought she saw Alain before the vision disappeared. Turning back, Chespie and Mairin were both shocked that the little girl was gone. Where did she go?_

 _Then, everything went black..._

Snapping her eyes open, Mairin sat up in bed as it was becoming light in the early morning, with Chespie still asleep. Remembering where she was, she sighed before thinking about the mysterious part of her dream which, while she didn't understand what it meant, she was relived that it saved her and Chespie from seeing anymore horrible nightmares based on terrible memories. At least she didn't wake up screaming.

She could've sworn though, that she felt that it was somehow real. Sighing, Mairin mtutered, "Alain..."

* * *

Little did Mairin know was that in another sleeping courters, Alain had snapped his eyes open as he just had a similiar dream. Sitting up in bed, he placed his left on against his forehead, wondering what the dream had meant. He never had a dream such as that before and he could've sworn...he saw Mairin and Chespie gaze at him before he woke up.

"Asur..." Zinnia's voice caused Alain to gaze at the other bed on the other side of the room, where the woman was still asleep, but obviously dreaming. He sighed in sadness. She must be dreaming about her late daughter and he couldn't blame her for missing her beloved child. Asur the Whismer was fast asleep herself, unaware of her trainer's dream.

Thinking back to Mairin, Alain sighed and gazed up at the ceiling. "Mairin..." he whispered.

* * *

Back in Vermilion City in a cottage near the port, an eight year old girl blinked her eyes open as she woke up from a strange dream. She had short black hair and ruby eyes, but gazed out at the window as the sun began to rise from the horizon and sighed in sadness, hugging the cloak she kept as a reminder.

"...Mommy." The little girl muttered.

* * *

 **A/N: A bit slow, I know, but I've added a bit of a twist in the end of this chapter since I found Zinnia's past to be too sad to be left for the rest of her life. I'm certain some of you can figure this out.**


	7. Chapter seven: Meeting Ash's friends

**Author's note: Eleven months without updating this story...this is terrible of me! I am so sorry about this guys, I really am! It was the loss of inspiration I guess, especially since I know what happens to Chespie which made me feel better in the main series.**

 **Well, this and most of my other stories will probably get slow updates, but I don't want to abandon any of them. So, please be patient, and again, I am deeply sorry for the year delay.**

 **I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo/Pokemon Company.**

* * *

Chapter seven: Meeting Ash's friends.

Later that morning, Mairin and Chespie ventured off from the Pokemon Center to explore Pewter City before they were to head to the theatre tonight for the premire of "The Giant Woman" movie. Needless to say, the young ten year old trainer was nervous to be featured there. So, she tried to calm her nerves by gazing around the town and what it has to offer.

Deep down, though, she still couldn't help but think about Alain or how he was doing back in Kalos. In fact, she missed her home region, but the nightmares kept her away in fear of everyone she cared about to get hurt because of her.

"Ches?" Chespie blinked all of the sudden, which got Mairin's attention.

"What is it, Chespie?" The ten year old asked. When her partner pointed in front of both of them, she followed his direction and saw...a Jigglypuff standing there in front of them, with a microphone in it's grasp.

"A Jigglypuff! How cute!" Mairin exclaimed at how adorable the pink-round Pokemon is. "Hi there, Jigglypuff."

"Chespin!" Chespie greeted the new Pokemon as well, waving.

"Jigglypuff!?" A familiar voice suddenly cried out behind the two. Mairin and Chespie turned to looke behind them and were surprised to see the same nice guy that directed them to Viridian City the other day; Brock who had a weirdly freaked out expression at the sight of the small Pokemon.

"Hey, you're the nice person at the Airport." Mairin muttered.

Before Brock could say anything, Jigglypuff brought up it's microphone close to it and began to sing into it, " _~Jiggillypuff, Jigaleee-puff,~_ " and continued to sing.

"It can use sing!" Mairin said as she and Chespie turned back to how beautiful Jigglypuff was singing...only for them, Brock and almost everyone else in Pewter City to suddenly feel drowsy and sleepy, causing the young trainger to yawn, "I feel really sleepy..."

Before Mairin and the others knew it, they were quickly fast asleep and collasped to the ground, away in dreamland, briefly snoring occasionly. When Jigglypuff opened it's eyes, it stopped singing and noticed, to it's sheer annoyance, everyone was asleep and being a gullible Pokemon, it still didn't know that it's singing talents was an attack to put opponents to sleep. Pulling off the microphone part and revealing it's marker, the pink Pokemon got to work to punish everyone who fell asleep.

* * *

By the time everyone work up, Jigglypuff was gone, having stormed off. When Mairin and Chespie worked up and glanced each other, they both noticed, to their surprise and amusement, their faces were squibbled in marker ink with random pictures. The two friends bursted out laughing at each other hysterically. Brock in the meantime was wiping off the ink off his face with a cloth until he was certain that the ink was all gone.

"Sorry about Jigglypuff. It thinks it's a singer and if you fall asleep when it sings, it gets angry and draws on your face." Brock apologetically said to the two who stopped laughing when they heard this and looked up at him.

"Is that why it had a microphone?" Mairin asked, curiously.

"Yeah, pretty much." Brock replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He then said, "By the way, you're a new trainer, right?"

Mairin blinked in surprise and she couldn't help but ask, "How do you know?"

"Chespin?" Chespie echoed.

"Well, for starters, you came from the Kalos Region and Chespin here is one of the region's starter Pokemon." Brock explained kindly, "I also couldn't help but notice you're keeping it out of it's Pokeball. Reminds me of two friends I used to travel."

"Well, we both started out a couple of months ago and we sort of decided to explore the Kanto Region." Mairin replied, though she didn't reveal the part where she and Chespie were involved with Alain's quest looking for Mega Stones.

She then stood up and introduced herself and Chespie, "My name's Mairin, and this is the most awesome Pokemon in the world, Chespie!"

"Chespin!" Chespie waved.

Brock smiled, especially at the nick-name of Chespie. "Nice to meet you. My name's Brock." He responded. "Are you here to compete in the Pokemon League, or in the Pokemon Contests?"

"Well, I haven't figured it out yet. I guess Chespie and I are really here for an adventure." Mairin admitted, which brought up some sadness of her experiences in the Houen Region all over again and she tried really hard not to let that or her nightmares get the better of her. In truth, she was still fasinated in the workings of the Mega Stones and Mega Evolution, but she had to put that behind her and find a new interest.

So, she instead asked, "What about you, Brock?"

"Well, I used to be out travelling to become a Pokemon Breeder, but now I'm studying to become a Pokemon Doctor, after my last adventure with my friends in the Sinnoh Region." Brock explained.

"You went to Sinnoh?" Mairin asked, excitedly amazed. "That means he travelled other parts of the world, Chespie!" She said to her Chespin who nodded in echoing excitement.

"Brock? Is that you?" Another familiar voice called out, causing all three of them to see a familiar girl with a Piplup running up towards them. Mairin and Chespie were stunned to see that it was the same girl who saved them back in Viridian City.

"Hey there, Dawn." Brock greeted as Dawn and Piplup reached him, Mairin and Chespie.

Before Dawn could say something else to her old friend, she noticed another familiar person and Pokemon, blinking in surprise, "Huh? You're the same guys we met in Viridian City."

"Piplup!" Piplup added.

Mairin flinched, remembering how she ran off from these two in tears, and cringed, muttering, "Y-yeah. I'm really sorry for running off like that. I guess I was kinda depressed."

"Huh?" Dawn and Brock asked in confusion, though this confirmed on what they both were thinking differently days earlier.

* * *

Venturing near the Pewter City Gym, having realised that she wasn't getting out of explaining why she was a bit upset, Mairin revealled her depression of nightmares that caused her and Chespie to run away in order to avoid having everyone she cared about in getting hurt.

She didn't tell Dawn or Brock about what happened in the Houen Region or about the Mega Stones or even about Alain, so she let them come to their own conclusions. The three trainers sat on the bench while Chespie and Piplup, quickly becoming friends, played together.

"...No wonder you looked so sad." Dawn said finally after a moment or two of silence.

"I just don't get why I keep having them." Mairin muttered, trying very hard not to cry again. "I thought coming here would make things better, so I could make a fresh start. Last night wasn't so bad, but...I have no idea what to do."

"Something scary that traumatized a person can make them do things differently." Brock wisely told the young trainer, continuing, "But you shouldn't let it get to you or pay much attention to what the nightmares are saying, because they're not real."

Mairin sighed, "I've been trying, but I always end up thinking about...about my friends and family and feel like a burden to them. Especially since I'm clumsy."

"I get what you mean. But maybe running away isn't the answer." Dawn told her kindly. The other girl looked at her quizzly, allowing the young Coordinator to continue, "Not every trainer starts out great on their journey. The first day of my journey, Piplup and I were attacked by a horde of Ariados. For a while there, I thought I was done for, but then Piplup saved me in using Bane. Neither of us will forget that moment."

She gazed at Piplup fondingly while the said Pokemon was playing patty-cake with Chespie.

"Truth is, the two of us didn't start out so great. But when that happened, I chose him as my partner and my best friend. Before I left home, I couldn't figure out if I should choose Piplup, Chimchar or Turtwig." Dawn added.

"Wow...really?" Mairin asked, surprised. Who would've thought that other starting trainers went through crazy beginnings? Hers didn't start out like Dawn's did, and from the beginning, Mairin herself had always loved Chespins and knew that she wanted to have one as her partner. Her adventure really began when she first discovered Alain and Charizard in their Mega-Evolved battle.

"That's actually very similiar to how Ash and Pikachu started out before I met them a long time ago." Brock chuckled.

"I guess not everyone start out normally-wait! You mean you know Ash Ketchum!?" Mairin exclaimed, shocked as she glanced at Brock.

"Yeah, we both do." Dawn replied, surprised to her what Mairin had said.

"You met him?" Brock asked.

Mairin stood up and said quickly, "No, I never met him, but I saw him and his Pikachu on TV just before I started out as a trainer! He was trying to save a Grachomp in Lumoise City, before saving Pikachu from falling off the Lumoise Gym's tower and they were saved by this mysterious Pokemon. It was so cool!"

"Yeah, that's Ash alright. He never changes." Dawn giggled, not surprised at all.

"He always leaps into action before thinking, but he certainly has strong love for Pokemon, especially Pikachu." Brock agreed with a knowing smile, which looked slightly embarrassed.

"Wow...no wonder he's so brave." Mairin muttered, stunned. Even Chespie, who along with Piplup heard this, was amazed at what Dawn and Brock both said. Hearing that Ash would do that almost everytime, or possibly everytime, it reminded her of how Alain saved her and Chespie from Rayquaza's attack, and then saving Charizard when it was defeated by Groudon. Come to think of it, Mairin didn't think twice when she and Chespie went to save him when he was knocked unconscious.

But it also brought back to her nightmares. No, Brock was right. Mairin had to forget about the nightmares, because they are not real. They're just based on her scary experiences. Still...what if those dreams actually come true?

Maybe running away wasn't the right answer, as Dawn said. Mairin is a Pokemon Trainer, and yet she was running away like a scared five year old, not going into Pokemon battles like she should as a trainer. But she was rookie trainer, so she needed some practice first in order to become a good trainer at least, especially here in Kanto to survive and have fun.

Well...maybe a practice run with one of Ash's friends might help.

"Hey, Dawn. Will you battle me?" Mairin asked after making up her mind.

"Excuse me?" Dawn replied, slightly surprised, as were Brock and the two Pokemon.

"The truth is, I wanna practice in Pokemon battles against other trainers, and I can't do that if I'm running away like this. Will you please battle me?" Mairin requested.

Dawn and Brock both glanced at each other, surprised by this request until they realised what Mairin actually meant. Even though Dawn was an experienced trainer herself by now, even she still had a lot to learn and plus, maybe she can give the girl from Kalos a few tips.

Finally, the trainer from Sinnoh stood up and nodded, "Sure. Why not."

"Really?" Mairin exclaimed, "Thank you!"

"How 'bout a one-on-one?"

"Sounds good to me: I choose Chespie!" Mairin declared excitedly.

"Okay. Then I choose Piplup!" Dawn agreed.

The two said Pokemon glanced at each other, before Chespie and Piplup nodded. This might actually be fun.

"Well then, if that's the case, I'll be the judge of this battle. I know a place where we can have the battle." Brock decided as he stood up as well. It's been a while since he was coaching a Pokemon battle in ages.

* * *

The three trainers soon found themselves in the park near the Pokemon Center, with Mairin and Chespie facing Dawn and Piplup on the opposite sides of the battle field, with Brock acting as the coach of the battle.

"This Pokemon battle between Dawn and Piplup and Mairin and Chespie will now get underway." Brock announced. Once both trainers and their Pokemon were ready, he called out the signal, "And begin!"

"Chespie, use Pin Missile!" Mairin commanded.

Chespie's horns glowed green as the said Pokemon let out it's attack towards Piplup.

"Piplup, use Bubblebeam to counter it!" Dawn quickly commanded.

Piplup let out it's attack which met halfway against Chespie's Pin Missile, resulting both attacks to explode into dust after colliding. The dust quickly cleared as both trainers were stunned by this but continued to try and stay firm.

"Now Piplup, use Drill-Peck Attack!" Dawn commanded.

The Pengiun Pokemon's beak glowed white and extended, charging towards Chespie who waited for the next order but was quickly pecked on by the powerful attack, much to Mairin's shock.

"Try using Vine Whip!" Mairin quickly ordered.

Chespie, despite being pecked on, attempted to use it's said attack and sucessfully tied up Piplup in it's grip. The former then pulled hard which resulted in Piplup spinning around a couple of times before making it dazed while seeing miniture Torchics circle around it's head.

Piplup then snapped out of it's daze quickly back shaking it's head, as Dawn gave out her next command, "Ice Beam Attack!"

The said Pokemon let out it's freezing attack.

"Dodge, Chespie!" Mairin hurriedly commanded, and Chespie hurried jumped, leaped and ran out of the way to avoid in getting frozen, before his trainer quickly ordered, "Try using Pin Missile again!"

Chespie jumped and then fired it's attack once more.

"Hydro Pump!" Dawn commanded.

Piplup stopped it's Blizzard attack and instead switched to Hydro Pump which again collided with Chespie's attack, but this time this powerful attack pushed it back and hit the grass-type Pokemon, sending him flying and falling onto the battle field below, much to Mairin's worry. As she cried out his name, Chespie stubbornly pushed himself back up, shaking away the daze despite it's energy running pretty low.

Even though Mairin was aware that Dawn was already a strong trainer, she didn't want the battle to end quickly. Then an idea came to her and mentally nodded to herself.

"Chespie, use Toxic!" Mairin commanded.

Chespie did so as the poison attack hit Piplup who tried to dodge it but was hit and was now poisoned, feeling it's health getting weaker, much to Dawn's worry.

"It worked!" Mairin exclaimed, amazed herself.

"Wow...I never thought of that." Dawn admitted, stunned herself. She then smiled, feeling familiar excitement despite the worry that Piplup would eventually lose it's health, "Better finish this up. Piplup, use Hydro-Pump!"

"Counter with Pin Missile, Chespie!" Mairin quickly commanded, feeling the same excitement in her first actual battle.

Both Pokemon did so despite the limited energy. Piplup's Hydro Pump and Chespie's Pin Missle collided once more, but this time both attacks broke free of each other and continued onward towards their targets. Directly at the same time, both of them cried out in agony as each other's attacks hit their mark despite that grass type Pokemon had better advantage to water type Pokemon. At the exact same time, Chespie and Piplup collasped to the ground, their eyes spinning(anime-style) and the two layed there, moaning.

Seeing this, Brock declared, "Piplup and Chespie are unable to battle. This match is a draw!"

Mairn and Dawn both approached their fallen Pokemon and cradled their partners in their arms to comfort them.

"You were great there, Chespie." Mairin said softly.

"Ches..." Chespie said, smiling weakly.

"I'm so proud of you, Piplup. We'll get you to the Pokemon Center to cure the poison, okay?" Dawn said comfortingly to Piplup who mumured weakly to his trainer.

Both trainers recalled their Pokemon as Brock approached the two girls, saying, "It'll be a good idea to head over to the Pokemon Center to get both Chespie and Piplup cured up."

"Right." Dawn and Mairin both said in agreement.

But as Mairin and her two new friends raced away from the park to head back to the Pokemon Center just as the sun was starting to set, neither of them had been aware that Alain and Zinnia, who were still searching for Mairin herself had just arrived in the area three minutes later.

"Why is finding her and even losing her so difficult?" Alain sighed, pausing in the middle of the battle field.

"Kids just have a way in doing that, but they have no trouble in finding anything or anyone else." Zinnia shook her head with a knowing smirk.

The young man facepalmed himself, "You're telling me. When I first met her, Mairin always managed to find me everytime I tried to lose her since I didn't want her involved with my journey. In the end, I gave up and just let her travel with me."

Zinnia giggled at this response, "Might as well call yourself a kid magnet." which caused Alain to whirl around to face her, his face starting to the shade of pink at this comment. Asur seemed to be laughing because it was smiling exictedly. "See? Even Asur agrees."

"You're not helping out, Asur." Alain grumbled, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh, we're only teasing. Don't take it to heart." Zinnia smirked.

"Somehow, that just makes it a little worse."

Unaware of the two of them, and even to Asur, AZ had been scanning the skies for Lysandre and had been scanning Petwer City since Cerulean City had nothing on who he was looking for.

' _There is nowhere to run. You can't hide from me._ ' AZ thought to himself, eyes narrowing dangerously.

* * *

45 minutes later at the Pokemon Center, both Chespie and Piplup were handed back to their respected trainers by Nurse Joy who said, "Your Pokemon are good as new and fighting fit."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Both Mairin and Dawn thanked, hugging their respected Pokemon Partners.

"I'm surprised they get on so well." The Nurse continued.

"I guess Chespie and Piplup became good friends already." Mairin said in agreement.

Before Dawn could say anything, she, Mairin and their Pokemon were startled when Brock quickly moved up to the front counter and held the startled Nurse Joy's hands, his eyes comically shaped like love hearts.

"Perhaps with effortless teamwork, you and I can get on well ourselves, Nurse Joy." Brock said charmingly, "Maybe we'll evolve into something much more-"

 _ **JAB!**_

Crogunk suddenly popped out of it's Pokeball and used it's Poison Jab right into Brock's back, causing it's trainer to cringe and moan due to this attack before collasping to the floor(anime style) face first, while his Pokemon grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him away from the others to avoid anymore embarrassment.

Dawn and Piplup both sighed with embarrassed but knowing smiles, while Mairin and Chespie watched Brock and Crogunk go with dumbfounded looks on their expressions and huge sweatdrops on their heads.

"...That was weird." Mairin muttered, wide-eyed.

"He does that all the time when it comes to pretty girls, especially Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys." Dawn explained in both an embarrassed and apologetic tone.

"Is he trying to find a girlfriend?" The Kalos Trainer guessed.

"Obviously." The Sinnoh Trainer nodded in agreement.

"Which reminds me." Nurse Joy spoke up, "The Pokemon Center will be closed early tonight, because of the movie premiure of The Giant Woman."

The name of the movie suddenly made both Mairin and Chespie remember that they were supposed to be there to see the movie tonight itself just before sunset, and when the two of them glanced up at the clock behind the Nurse, the two panicked as it was nearing five thirty, which leaves them half an hour before the movie starts.

"Aah! I completely forgot about the movie! We're gonna be late!" Mairin panicked, saying apologetically to Dawn, Piplup and Brock who recovered, "Sorry, guys! Gotta go! Catch you later!"

Immediately, Mairin and Chespie thanked Nurse Joy before racing out of the Pokemon Center for the second time today, leaving behind her puzzled new friends who watched her go. Was she going to see the new slightly scary movie?

As the two friends raced by people and Pokemon and had just made it to the theatres and met with the director at the backdoor who greeted her, unaware to Mairin and Chespie, and even to Alain, Zinnia, Asur, Dawn, Piplup and Brock, halfway between the cross-roads of Cerulean City and Vermilion City, and Pewter City, with the craft having turned into a van, Lysandre and his men were making their way towards Cerulean City.

"How much further to Cerulean City?" Lysandre questioned.

"Another 75 minutes, sir." One of the orange-suit men answered.

The tall man nodded, "More than enough time."

He was unaware that Alain and the others were closer than he knew, which could change things and possibly take a turn for the worst.

* * *

 **A/N: Again, I am deeply sorry for both the lateness of updates for this story and that this chapter isn't as good as the others. I'm not sure how long this story will be or when it will be finished, but I do intend to finish it eventually. I'll update this again as soon as possible, but you may have to wait for quite a while again.**


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